PMD Battery Allegedly Burned Down Entire Yishun Flat While Man Still Sat In Living Room

Yishun is notorious in Singapore for all sorts of reasons. From murder cases to cat abuse, you name it. Now, the neighbourhood has yet another strange occurrence to add to its repertoire — a man who sat in his living room while his flat was burning down.

Here’s what you need to know about it.

Yishun Resident Sits in Living Room While Flat Burns Down

On Friday (23 August), residents staying in Block 392, Yishun Avenue 6, found themselves evacuating the block after a fire broke out in one of the flats in the block. The fire broke out in the afternoon, at around 1:30 pm.

According to Shin Min Daily News, the fire had broke out in a sixth-floor unit of the block.

A 61-year-old resident interviewed by Shin Min Daily News shared that after smelling the scent of smoke, he ran upstairs to check on the source of the smoke, which turns out to be the said sixth-floor unit. However, to his surprise, the resident also spotted a young man, who looked to be around 20 years old, sitting in the living room of the burning flat.

When the Gen Zs said that people should aspire towards being “unbothered”, I don’t think this is what they meant. If there’s a fire in your living room, that’s probably not the best time to try and be “unbothered”.

The 61-year-old resident also shared that while he had attempted urging the man sitting in the living room to evacuate from the burning unit, the man refused and requested for the resident to leave.

“I tried to reach out and pull him, but he still wouldn’t budge, so I had no choice but to escape on my own,” the 61-year-old interviewee added.

Ah… Yishun. 

Fortunately, the fire was eventually put out by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) after SCDF personnel forcibly entered the unit. No injuries were reported.

SCDF: Fire Caused By PMD Battery

According to the SCDF, the raging fire in the sixth-floor Yishun unit was caused by a personal mobility device (PMD) battery. Preliminary investigations suggest that the fire was likely a result of an electrical fault in the PMD battery.

This is far from the first time we’ve heard of fires caused by PMDs. While PMDs appear to be a thing of the past, there have still been fires caused by these pesky mobility devices that half of Singapore appears to have a grudge with.

Earlier this month, we saw a man leaping out of his burning Hougang flat after a fire broke out as a result of a PMD. Last year, we also saw fires break out at Punggol and Geyland respectively — both of which were also caused by PMDs.

So, if you’re a PMD owner and would like to avoid suffering the same fate as these unfortunate names in the news, we have a few tips for you.

Try not to charge your PMDs unattended overnight or for an extended period of time, and refrain from charging your PMDs near any combustible materials. Additionally, try not to buy non-original batteries for your PMDs.

And of course, the number one tip of all time — always stay vigilant lah, for the sake of you and your neighbours’ safety.