SINGAPORE: Some 35 people evacuated from an HDB block in the Lavender area after a fire, believed to be caused by a charging e-bike battery, broke out at a flat on Dec 11.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the blaze at Block 463 Crawford Lane at about 11.50pm.
Firefighters from the Kallang Fire Station arrived to see black smoke billowing out of a unit on the 15th floor, it added in its Facebook post on Dec 12.
SCDF said it made a forced entry into the unit, which had no occupants at the time.
The fire, which involved the living room, was extinguished with a water jet, it added.
About 35 residents from the affected block had evacuated before SCDF officers arrived, SCDF said, and no injuries were reported.
Preliminary investigations found that the fire had originated from a battery pack of a power-assisted bicycle that was being charged in the living room.
SCDF reminded users of personal mobility devices or power-assisted bicycles not to charge the devices’ batteries for an extended period of time, and not to buy or use non-original batteries.
There were 27 fires involving such devices in the first half of 2023, an increase from 22 fires during the same period in 2022, SCDF’s mid-year report released in August showed.
In May, three people were hospitalised after a fire broke out in a Sengkang flat where a personal mobility device had been left charging in the living room. - The Straits Times/ANN
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