SINGAPORE: Singaporean host Juffri Alui had just put his seven-month-old baby to bed after returning home from a trip to Malaysia in the early hours of Sunday (Oct 4) when his wife alerted him to crackling sounds and the smell of smoke in their toilet.
Soon after, he saw a small fire ignite in an LED light box above their toilet bowl, which then quickly turned into angry flames engulfing the entire area.
Speaking to The Straits Times on Monday (Oct 5), Juffri said that he was grateful that his family had managed to escape from their home in Punggol quickly and that all of them are safe.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it was alerted to the fire at Block 684A Edgedale Plains at around 4.40am.
The fire, which involved a toilet in a unit on the fifth floor, was extinguished by SCDF using a hosereel.
“Preliminary findings indicate that the fire had likely started from an electrical origin in the toilet,” SCDF said, adding that there were no reported injuries.
Juffri, who is also a content creator, shared about the incident in an Instagram post on Oct 4.
A video accompanying the post shows bright orange flames covering a part of his home, while another clip shows an SCDF officer entering his unit with a hosereel.
He told ST that the fire happened shortly after his family of six, including his four children, had returned home from Johor Bahru.
He said that his wife was taking a shower in the common toilet when she heard a crackling sound and smelled smoke.
“She alerted me and we decided to switch the water heater off while she quickly finished showering,” he said.
“Once she was out, I went to investigate further as the smell got stronger,” he said, adding that he had told his wife to wake their children up once he saw flames.
“I quickly called 995 for assistance at 4.36am while monitoring the fire alone inside. Thank god we got out quick and all six of us are safe.”
Juffri said he believes that the wires connected to the water heater, which were housed in the LED light box, had caused the fire.
He added that the fire had melted the light box and also parts of the toilet bowl.
The SCDF has advised the public to take note of several fire prevention tips.
These include not overloading electrical outlets, always switching off appliances when they are not in use, checking the conditions of electrical wires regularly and keeping wires away from hot surfaces.
Only appliances and plugs bearing the Safety Mark should be used and batteries should not be left charging for extended periods, SCDF said. - The Straits Times/ANN
