Last Updated on 2023-05-05 , 10:50 pm
We’ve heard stories about accidents involving personal mobility devices (PMDs), including fires ravaging homes.
Similar devices like e-bikes are prone to catching fire, as seen by many cases of how they combust in the streets and flats.
Recently, 80 occupants of a Mountbatten flat had to be evacuated as an e-bike caught fire in one of its units.
Luckily, there were no fatalities, and everyone was moved to another temporary place of stay.
The Details
On Thursday (20 April) night, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) uploaded a Facebook post detailing the events at Block 10 Jalan Batu.
They were alerted to a fire at a ninth-floor unit at around 7:10 pm. When SCDF arrived at the scene, the fire had already gotten worse and was described as “raging.”
Before SCDF arrived, two people in the unit were already evacuated. The fire had affected the living room and was extinguished by the firefighters using a water jet.
One person, who lives in a neighbouring unit, was sent to Singapore General Hospital after being inspected for smoke inhalation.
The battery pack of a Power-Assisted Bicycle (PAB), which was being charged in the house, was the culprit behind this fire.
Assistance Provided
In a Facebook post uploaded on Thursday (20 April) night, Mountbatten SMC MP Lim Biow Chuan mentioned that multiple parties were assisting the block’s residents.
He mentioned that SCDF had quickly extinguished the fire, and grassroots leaders were at the block to help those affected.
Furthermore, HDB has also offered temporary places of stay to the 80 residents who were evacuated from the fire.
He added that the Town Council would clean up debris after investigations.
Similar Incidents
This is not the first time a PAB has caught fire, and also not the first time it’s happened in a home.
Just recently, on 11 March, an e-bike combusted on a sidewalk at Punggol Place, resulting in one person being taken to the hospital.
In February, a similar incident to the one in Mountbatten occurred in a flat along Kitchener Road, with an equal number of people evacuated from the scene.
The fire, which started in a 13th-floor unit in Block 2, resulted in six people being hospitalised.
It originated from a PAB which was charging in the living room. According to Shin Min Daily News, the flat owners were helping a friend who was a delivery rider charge the PAB.
In a report published by SCDF regarding fires in 2022, the number of fires involving active mobility devices (AMDs), including personal mobility devices (PMDs) and PABs, decreased by 33.3 per cent from 63 in 2021 to 42 in 2022.
However, of all the types of AMDs, the number of fires involving PABs dropped the least by 8.7 per cent. The number of fires involving PMDs dropped considerably by 56.3 per cent.
In light of the fire at Mountbatten, the SCDF has provided some safety tips for owners of PMDs and PABs.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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