Funeral Blocked Fire Engine Responding To Henderson Blaze, NSF Firefighter’s Death Remains Under Probe

Funeral Tent Blocked Fire Engine & Caused Delay In Firefighting Operation At Henderson Block

One of the more heartbreaking stories from 2022 involved the passing of a full-time national serviceman (NSF) while fighting a fire in Henderson Road.

As Singapore searches for answers to what happened that fateful day, more details have emerged on the firefighting operation.

One of them is that the response was delayed by 18 minutes because the fire engine was blocked by a funeral tent.

Right now, it’s uncertain whether that’s related at all to the NSF firefighter’s death, which remains under probe.

Funeral tent that blocked fire engine included bollards padlocked to ground

Speaking in Parliament on Monday (9 Jan), Minister of State for Home Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim listed out some challenges faced by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) on 8 Dec, when the fire broke out at Block 91 Henderson Road.

He said the fire engine access way leading to Block 91 was blocked by a tent, which was part of a funeral wake.

There were bollards padlocked to the ground near the tent, he added.

Officers had to remove them in order to create an access path.

This resulted in a delay of 18 minutes to the SCDF’s arrival at the blaze.

Block 91 has no service roads, tent seen below Block 96B

A satellite image from Google Maps shows that Block 91 is part of a trio of old HDB blocks on higher ground without any service roads surrounding them.

That means the nearest fire engine access is a road next to the newer Block 96B.

However, a video taken from a resident living in Henderson CityVue, which spans blocks 95A-C and 96A-B, shows a red-and-white tentage at the foot of Block 96B.

The tentage is also right in front of a slope that fire engines may climb to gain access to Block 91 in the background.

A netizen who lives in the area did some investigation and found that there’s a sign saying “Fire Engine Access. Keep Clear” at the spot where the tentage was.

Basically, that meant the tent was blocking the only access point for firefighting vehicles.

22 emergency vehicles deployed

According to Dr Faishal, 22 emergency vehicles and 61 responders from six fire stations were deployed.

The SCDF’s photo showed only small firefighting vehicles that made it to the grass verge.

The minister said about 40% of the responders were national servicemen, with the rest regulars.

Police & SCDF are conducting investigations into NSF’s passing

In the case of Sergeant 1 Edward H Go, however, it would be premature to discuss the factors which contributed to his passing, Dr Faishal said.

He also couldn’t share further details as the police are conducting an investigation into the 19-year-old’s death.

They will inform the Coroner of their findings, which will be considered when determining cause of death.

On SCDF’s part, they will seek to understand what happened, including whether standard operating procedures and protocols were followed and how they can be tightened to keep their firefighters safe.

The fire was likely of electrical origin, said the SCDF based on their preliminary investigations.

NSF was among top 25% of trainees

Elaborating on SGT1 Go’s training, Dr Faishal said he had responded to nearly 60 fire and rescue calls since he was posted to the Central Fire Station in May 2022.

Thus, he had “some level of experience”, the minister added.

He also achieved a gold standard for his Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) and an A grade for his Breathing Apparatus Proficiency Test.

Firefighters must be of Physical Employment Standard (PES) A, B1 or B2 and complete 16 weeks of training, and the teenager was among the top 25% of his cohort.

SGT1 Go was posthumously promoted and accorded a ceremonial funeral for family, friends and fellow officers to bid him a final farewell.

He was Singapore’s first firefighter to pass away from an SCDF operation. May he rest in peace.

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Featured image adapted from My 1 Cent Worth on YouTube and SCDF on Facebook.