2 People Used a Hose from Their Flat to Try Putting Out Fire in Neighbour’s Unit

Typically, when a fire breaks out, you have no choice but to wait for firefighters to arrive, before the flames envelope your home.

But fortunately for one resident in Punggol, two neighbours used their own hoses to extinguish the fire in her burning house.

Fire Broke Out at Punggol Condominium

Six people were rescued and 100 residents evacuated from the Waterwoods condominium in Punggol on Saturday (19 Dec) after a fire broke out in one of the units.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) detailed the incident in a Facebook post on the same day.

The SCDF said it was alerted to a fire at Block 19 Punggol Field Walk at about 11.25am on Saturday.

The fire involved the contents of a bedroom in a two-story unit on the 16th floor of the condo, it said.

When SCDF personnel arrived on the scene, they discovered that the raging fire had fully engulfed the bedroom.

SCDF firefighters had to put on breathing apparatus sets before forcing their way into the smoke-logged unit, and eventually extinguished the fire using one water jet.

Fortunately for the force, it had some assistance from two concerned neighbours.

Neighbours Used Hose from Their Units to Put Out Fire

Images of a neighbour from an adjacent unit using his own hose to put out the fire in the burning bedroom soon made its way to the internet.

The neighbour appears to be staying in an adjacent unit on the floor above the affected house.

You can watch a video of the neighbour, who’s the closest thing Singapore has to Batman, in action here.

It turns out he wasn’t the only helpful neighbour in the condomium, as the resident below him used his water hose to extinguish the flames in the burning unit as well.

 

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Netizens were certainly impressed.

However, one commenter, purportedly an ex-SCDF personnel, said that in some instances, using a water jet would be fine, but it could also cause a backdraft and exacerbate the fire.

6 People Rescued, 100 Evacuated

According to the SCDF, one person was found in the kitchen while two persons were rescued from a bedroom on the upper floor of the unit, directly above the bedroom on fire.

“Three other persons were rescued from the ledge outside the toilet on the upper floor. They were quickly brought in to safety through the toilet window,” the force said.

Five of the six residents were brought to Singapore General Hospital for smoke inhalation, while one person refused to go to hospital.

Those who suffered smoke inhalation or serious burn injuries but are in stable condition will be conveyed to Singapore General Hospital’s specialised Burn Centre instead of the nearest hospital, SCDF said.

While the inhabitants of the flat might be alright, the affected bedroom was severely burnt and all its contents damaged and blackened by the raging flames.

In total, around 100 residents were evacuated from the affected block by security officers as a precautionary measure.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Featured Image: Instagram (@king_ah_kong11)