A woman, attempting to ward off mosquitoes, lit a mosquito repellent coil that ignited a cardboard box nearby. The flames quickly spread throughout the apartment.
After failed attempts to extinguish the fire, she quickly evacuated with her elderly parents.
The incident occurred around 1:00 PM on Saturday, 1 Mar 2025, at Block 176, Bishan Street 13. The affected unit was a three-room flat on the fifth floor.
Significant Damage to Multiple Floors
When Shin Min Daily News reporters arrived at the scene following a reader’s alert, firefighters had already put out the flames but continued to spray water on the affected unit.
One side of the building was cordoned off, with numerous police officers investigating the case and maintaining order. Multiple police and civil defense vehicles were seen parked below the block.
The bedroom of the affected fifth-floor unit suffered severe damage.
The windows and air conditioner were completely burnt, and large areas of paint had peeled off the walls. There were also glass fragments scattered on the ground below.
The windows of the sixth-floor unit were also destroyed and cracked, while the exterior walls and windows from the seventh to tenth floors were blackened.
During an interview with reporters, the homeowner, Lee, a 52-year-old woman, revealed that the fire started from a mosquito repellent coil in the master bedroom.
At that time, she was eating in the living room with her mother when they suddenly smelled smoke and immediately searched for its source.
Swift Evacuation of Elderly Residents
“When I opened the master bedroom door to check, I discovered that a cardboard box in the corner where the mosquito repellent coil was placed had caught fire. The flames had already spread to the bed, and the room was filled with thick smoke,” Lee said.
She and the family’s domestic helper tried to fetch water from the kitchen to put out the fire, but the flames were difficult to control.
Seeing the fire growing rapidly, Lee and the helper quickly evacuated her octogenarian parents to the ground floor.
When reporters arrived, the family was still visibly shaken. Lee’s mother was barefoot, while the father was shirtless as they were resting downstairs.
A large crowd of affected residents gathered below the block.
It wasn’t until around 3:00 PM that authorities allowed residents from the eighth floor and above to return to their units, while others had to continue waiting.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed they received an alert at 1:30 PM on Saturday. The fire involved the master bedroom and living room of a fifth-floor unit.
SCDF firefighters used two water jets to extinguish the blaze. Several adjacent units on upper floors were also damaged in the incident.
All four occupants of the burning unit had evacuated before SCDF arrived, and approximately 40 residents were evacuated.
Preliminary investigations suggest the fire was caused by a lit item left unattended. Thankfully, no injuries were reported in the incident.
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