Fire breaks out in kitchen of Sengkang HDB flat when nobody is home, SCDF forces entry

10 evacuated from Sengkang block after fire breaks out in 6th-floor flat

A fire broke out in the kitchen of an HDB flat in Sengkang on Tuesday (18 Aug), causing the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) to force entry into the premises.

The incident happened when nobody was at home, said Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Victor Lye in a Facebook post on the same day.

SCDF puts out fire after forcing entry into Sengkang flat

In response to queries from MS News, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the fire at about 5pm on 18 Aug.

It involved the contents of a kitchen in a flat on the sixth floor of Block 408B Fernvale Road.

After SCDF conducted forced entry into the unit, firefighters put out the fire using a water jet.

No injuries were reported, but 10 people were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

SCDF called after domestic helper sought help from neighbour

Mr Lye, who arrived at the scene after an overseas trip, said nobody was in the unit when the fire broke out.

The alarm was raised when a domestic helper from the unit above asked a next-door neighbour for help as smoke was billowing out from the affected unit.

The neighbour called SCDF, and residents living two floors above and one floor below the affected unit were evacuated.

Residents of affected flat say they were not cooking

Mr Lye later spoke to the couple who live in the unit, who said that they were not cooking at the time and only a wireless doorbell was switched on.

They thus believed that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit at the kitchen power point.

A photo he shared of their kitchen on Facebook showed that its walls and floor were blackened with soot.

Thankfully, their kitchen cabinet was not made of wood, or the fire would have been more difficult to put out, the MP noted.

MP thanks all those who helped

Mr Lye thanked the cleaners from Ang Mo Kio Town Council, who were still cleaning the place when he left.

He also thanked the town council manager, who coordinated and managed the post-incident cleaning, having rushed over in his slippers.

Lastly, the MP expressed gratitude to civic-minded residents, SCDF and the police for their quick actions.

Also read: Elderly man dies in hospital after being found unresponsive in burning MacPherson flat

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Featured image adapted from Victor Lye on Facebook and Google Maps.