One person taken to hospital, 60 evacuated after fire breaks out in Singapore's Punggol flat


The fire broke out in a seventh-floor HDB unit in Sumang Lane in the early hours of Jan 26, 2025. - Photos: SCDF/Facebook

SINGAPORE: One person was taken to hospital and about 60 residents from a Housing Board block in Punggol had to evacuate in the early hours of Sunday (Jan 26) after a fire broke out.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post on the same day that firefighters from Punggol, Sengkang and Tampines fire stations had responded to the fire at Block 224A Sumang Lane at about 5am.

Black smoke could be seen coming out from a unit on the seventh floor when SCDF arrived. The fire, involving a bedroom, was extinguished with a water jet.

Four people managed to evacuate from the unit before SCDF arrived. Later, about 60 people from neighbouring units were evacuated by the police and SCDF as a precautionary measure.

A person was assessed by an SCDF paramedic for smoke inhalation and was taken to Singapore General Hospital.

SCDF said preliminary findings showed that the fire likely originated from an electrical source in the bedroom.

There were 1,954 fires in 2023, an 8.6 per cent hike from the 1,799 cases in 2022. Of the 1,954 fires, 970 took place in residential buildings, an increase of 3.7 per cent from 935 in 2022.

The top two causes of fires were electrical issues, with 597 cases; and unattended cooking, with 456 cases, according to SCDF statistics.

Additionally, fire injuries fell from 171 to 81, and deaths from eight to three, from 2022 to 2023.

In its advisory on Jan 26, SCDF urged the public to avoid overloading power sockets and to switch off electrical appliances when not in use, in order to prevent electrical fires.

People should not leave batteries or devices to charge unattended for an extended period of time or overnight.

They should also check the condition of wires regularly, and replace or repair frayed or cracked wires immediately.

SCDF also advised the public against leaving wires under carpets or mats, and to keep these away from hot surfaces. - The Straits Times/ANN

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