SINGAPORE: Three people were taken to hospital after a fire broke out in a Housing Board flat in Bukit Panjang on Sunday (Oct 4).
In a Facebook post, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the fire at Block 479 Segar Road at about 9.35am.
Upon arrival, SCDF officers found the blaze confined to a bedroom of a ninth floor unit. Firefighters extinguished the fire using a water jet.
One person from the affected unit was evacuated before SCDF’s arrival. The person, along with two others from a neighbouring unit, were assessed for smoke inhalation and taken to Singapore General Hospital, SCDF said.
As a precaution, the police and SCDF also evacuated about 100 people from the affected block.
Preliminary findings indicate that the fire likely originated from an electrical source in the bedroom.
In its post, SCDF urged the public to avoid overloading electrical outlets with electrical appliances.
It advised people to use only appliances and electrical plugs bearing the Safety Mark, and to switch off appliances when they are not in use.
In its annual statistics report on Feb 11, SCDF said there was an 8.6% increase in the number of residential fires, from 968 calls in 2024 to 1,051 in 2025.
The top two causes of fires in residential premises were unattended cooking and fires originating from an electrical source.
There were 94 fire injuries and 6 fire fatalities in 2025, SCDF said in its report. - The Straits Times/ANN
