SCDF and Singapore Police Force personnel at Block 173 Lorong 1 Toa Payoh on July 22. - ST
SINGAPORE: A man and a woman were found dead after a fire broke out in an HDB flat in Toa Payoh on Tuesday (July 22) evening.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post at about 9.15pm that it had responded to the blaze at around 7.30pm at Block 173 Toa Payoh Lorong 1.
When firefighters arrived at the unit located on the second floor, the living room was on fire. They entered the smoke-filled flat and extinguished the flames using a water jet.
“During the firefighting operation, firefighters found two unresponsive persons inside the unit and immediately carried them out,” SCDF said.
The police said: “A 56-year-old man and a 61-year-old woman were found lying motionless in a unit and were pronounced dead at scene by an SCDF paramedic.”
Videos circulating on social media show several residents at the block’s void deck being assisted by police officers.
Flashing sirens from emergency vehicles can be seen reflected against the facade of the block.
SCDF personnel assisting residents at the void deck of Block 172A, Toa Payoh Lorong 1, near the block where a unit caught fire.
In one video, flames can be seen on the ground floor, with thick, black smoke billowing above it, while SCDF and police officers move around the area.
SCDF personnel assisting residents at the void deck of Block 172A, Toa Payoh Lorong 1, near the block where a unit caught fire. - ST
An MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, Cai Yinzhou, told reporters that three units on the same floor were affected and HDB has arranged alternative accommodation for the occupants.
Cai added that other residents in the block have expressed difficulty cleaning up following the blaze, especially families with asthmatic children and seniors.
“So we have informed the town council about the affected units, and we will engage with them to arrange for contractors to come and clean tomorrow,” he said.
A resident who lives next to the affected unit, Wu Tian Jiao, told The Straits Times that he was in the kitchen with his wife when they saw smoke.
“We were frightened and we ran down. I saw the fire coming out from both windows in the unit,” said Wu, 66, a retiree.
He said the dead man and woman, who were in their 50s or 60s, had been living in the affected unit for about one year.
Wu said he and his wife had not spoken to the pair before.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
There were 80 cases of injury from fire and five fire-related deaths in 2024, according to SCDF statistics.
Including this latest incident, six fire-related deaths have been reported so far in 2025, already surpassing 2024’s total. - The Straits Times/ANN
