SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): Some 20 people were evacuated from an HDB block in Telok Blangah after a fire involving a power-assisted bicycle (PAB) broke out on the afternoon of Jan 3.
In a Facebook post on Jan 3, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to a fire at Block 108 Bukit Purmei Road at around 1.20pm.
One of the bedrooms of a sixth-floor flat was on fire, SCDF said. Firefighters forcibly entered the smoke-filled flat and extinguished the fire with two water jets.
No one was inside the flat when the fire, which was confined to the bedroom, broke out. There were no reported injuries, said SCDF.
About 20 people from the affected block were evacuated by the police and SCDF as a precautionary measure.
Preliminary findings indicate that the fire most likely originated from the battery of a PAB in the bedroom.
Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said in a written reply to parliamentary questions in September 2025 that 187 fires, or about 4 per cent of fires in Housing Board estates, involved active mobility devices over the last five years.
Of these, about 46 per cent involved personal mobility devices (PMDs), 42 per cent involved PABs and 12 per cent involved personal mobility aids.
SCDF statistics show there were at least eight fire-related deaths in 2025 as at August that year – an increase from five in 2024, and three in 2023.
In October 2025, National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat cautioned against using illegal PMDs bought online, as their batteries may overheat and catch fire during charging.
He noted that PMD fires are becoming more and more of a concern in Singapore, and urged users to buy compliant devices from approved shops. -- The Straits Times/ANN
