In 2019, a blaze at a Bukit Batok HDB flat claimed the life of a 60-year-old woman.
Although firefighters managed to rescue the three residents, the woman later died in the hospital from her injuries.
Recently, a coroner’s court launched an inquiry into the woman’s death.
As it turns out, fire investigators suspect that a cigarette had caused the blaze.
On Tuesday (4 April), police and fire investigators took the stand at a coroner’s court hearing.
According to Channel News Asia (CNA), the investigators eliminated electrical origins, spontaneous combustion, and praying activities as possible sources of the fire.
Instead, they deduced that the blaze likely originated from the embers of a cigarette butt.
Source: Andrew Pons on Unsplash, for illustration purposes only
However, investigators failed to retrieve a cigarette butt at the scene as it had likely burned up.
Nevertheless, the investigators pursued this line of thought and reckoned that the flammable items outside the victim’s home fuelled the fire.
Additionally, a weather report showed that the strong wind conditions that day could have aided in the spread of the flames.
CNA reported that the police have since questioned smokers from 13 neighbouring households.
However, all of them denied smoking in the common corridors at the time of the fire.
Additionally, the police rejected foul play after conducting house-to-house visits from levels eight to 16.
Source: Google Maps
Although the deceased had a history of disputes with some of the neighbours, police found no evidence linking them to the fire.
As such, the cause of the fire was likely an accident.
Upon questioning the deceased’s son, police found that although he smoked inside and outside the flat, he always extinguished his cigarette using an ashtray.
The blaze occurred in the wee hours of 1 Nov 2019 at the 13th-floor unit of Block 210A Bukit Batok Street 21.
According to The Straits Times (ST), the deceased, her boyfriend, and her son were in the unit at the time of the fire.
By the time rescuers arrived, the two men had taken refuge on the kitchen window ledge while the deceased had fainted in the toilet.
Although she was found alive, she passed away in the hospital on 9 Dec 2019 from smoke inhalation.
Following the inquiry into her death, the State Coroner will release its findings at a later date.
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Featured image adapted from Chee Soon Juan on Facebook.
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