Everything About The Sim Lim Square Fire That Happened Yesterday

This is Sim Lim Square.

(1 Rochor Canal Rd, Singapore 188504 if you need new computers)

This is a fire.

Sometimes when you dump buildings in a fire, you get something really dire.

Thankfully, the building plus fire equation we are talking about today worked out to be a small scare and nothing else.

What Happened/ Individual Recounts

A fire broke out in the rubbish bin on the 5th storey of Sim Lim Square yesterday around noon.

By sheer coincidence, the technician, Mr Sachithanantham, working at Suhail Computers on the fifth storey had been told that the fire alarm would be tested that day. According to The New Paper, he said: “I thought that the siren was for the test. So I remained in my shop.”

Ah, don’t we all think that.

The notion was soon corrected by a neighbour, and he left the shop. Another owner of a shop (Riyan Technologies) on the 5th level, Mr Chelian, reported first smelling smoke at around 11.45 a.m.

He said: “I went to see what was happening and I saw white smoke coming from the loading bay lift lobby.”

The smoke eventually filled the corridors and the 150 occupants of the buildings were quickly evacuated.

To reference a totally unrelated article, a double-decker bus has a capacity of 155 passengers, counting seats in the upper and lower deck as well as standing room.

So for visualisation sake, 150 people is around one double-decker bus at nearly maximum capacity.

Putting Out the Fire/ SCDF response

In quelling the conflagrant rubbish bin, the automated sprinkler system had a hand and so did the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

According to Stomp, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that they responded to the fire at about 12 p.m.

A spokesperson said: “The fire involved the contents of a rubbish bin on level 5 of the building.”

“The building’s sprinkler system was activated and the fire was extinguished by SCDF using a hose reel.”

“About 150 persons were evacuated by the company’s emergency response team (CERT) prior to SCDF’s arrival.”

The cause of the fire is still being investigated, but no one was injured. The building was safe to enter by 1.33 p.m. Mr Chelian described returning to large pools of water on the floor at 2 p.m.

To watch a video posted by The Straits Times:

And if you’re one who doesn’t come to our app daily (WHYWHY WHY?!), you might not know that just a fire just occurred in Tang Plaza three days ago, and it’s put out entirely by the sprinklers.

Once again, we’ve the unsung heroes to thank for.