Brother & Sister Escape Hougang Flat Fire Before SCDF’s Arrival, 20 Other Residents Evacuated

Brother & Sister Make Timely Escape From Hougang Flat Fire On 9 Dec

A fire broke out on Friday (9 Dec) at a Hougang flat while a brother and sister were home alone.

Thankfully, the siblings managed to escape the fire in time. Meanwhile, 20 other residents in the block also evacuated their homes.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) later put out the fire using a water jet.

Investigations about the cause of the fire are ongoing.

Fire breaks out at Hougang flat

The fire broke out at Block 834 Hougang Central around 2pm on Friday (9 Dec).

A passer-by shared that he saw about five SCDF vehicles and four police vehicles on the scene while smoke billowed from the second-floor unit.

When Shin Min Daily News reporters arrived, the fire had been put out. The walls of the affected unit and the corridor’s ceilings were blackened and covered in thick soot.

Shards of broken glass that appeared to be from the broken windows were also seen on the floor.

A neighbour said when he first detected a smoky smell, he initially dismissed it as people burning joss paper.

However, he later heard people shouting for help. When he went out of his flat, he saw the pair of siblings from the unit beside his running out of their flat.

The 23-year-old immediately notified the SCDF, and his family fled from their flat.

He shared that after the SCDF arrived, the fire was put out in about 10 minutes.

The homeowner and father of the two siblings only arrived back at the scene about 30 minutes later.

SCDF forcibly enter unit & put out fire

In response to MS News‘ queries, SCDF said they were alerted to the fire at 1.50pm on 9 Dec.

Upon arriving, they forcibly entered the unit. The fire was found to involve the contents of a bedroom at the upper level of a second-floor unit.

They then extinguished the fire using a water jet.

Prior to their arrival, 20 people had self-evacuated from the affected block. Thankfully, there were no reported injuries from the incident.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Family in shock at what had happened

Non-elected People’s Action Party (PAP) representative of Hougang, Lee Hong Chuang, took to Facebook to share that he had rushed down to the scene after hearing about the fire.

He said the family seemed “very shocked” at what had happened.

As the brother and sister sat at the void deck awaiting their father’s return, Mr Lee comforted and praised them for their alertness to leave the flat immediately.

Volunteers and staff were on-site to support the affected residents, while town council workers assisted in the clean-up.

Mr Lee said they would do their best to assist the family and get things in order, which included ensuring they had a place to stay for the next few nights.

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Featured image adapted from Lee Hong Chuang on Facebook and Shin Min Daily News on Facebook.