A flat in Jurong East belonging to an elderly couple caught fire on Sunday (18 Feb) after they left some prayer candles burning before going to bed.
The flames subsequently set surrounding items ablaze while the couple were asleep.
As the fire raged, neighbours had to move items the couple had hoarded along the corridor out of the way to evacuate.
Eventually, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) put out the fire and sent one person to hospital.
According to Lianhe Zaobao, the fire occurred at an 8th-floor unit of Block 287A Jurong East Street 21.
The elderly couple’s son, 55-year-old Liu Yiming (name transliterated from Mandarin), said that his mother was making offerings in the evening on 17 Feb.
Mr Liu believes that she did not extinguish the prayer candles before going to sleep, which caused a piece of cardboard nearby to catch fire.
He shared that his mother has a habit or hoarding items in the house and along the corridor outside the unit.
Despite the family urging her repeatedly to remove the items, she brushes them off, saying she will do it at a later time.
Neighbours have also expressed concern over the hoarded items and have always been worried that they might be a fire hazard.
Source: Singapore Civil Defence Force on Facebook
One resident, 60-year-old Chen Yiwan, told Lianhe Zaobao that the neighbours never reported the elderly woman to the authorities because the couple sells the items they hoarded for a living.
The town council had tried to clear the items before, but they continued to accumulate over time.
Ms Chen added that when the fire broke out, neighbours had to move the hoarded items out of the way so that they could evacuate.
The SCDF confirmed the fire at 287A Jurong East Street 21 in a Facebook post on Sunday (18 Feb).
The post stated that the SCDF received an alert about the fire at around 1.50am on 18 Feb.
Firefighters from Clementi, Bukit Batok and Jurong Fire Stations were deployed to attend to the blaze, which was “raging inside the unit” when they arrived.
The firefighters put out the fire, which involved the contents of the living room, with two water jets.
Two persons from the unit had self-evacuated before SCDF’s arrival.
Responders assessed a person from a neighbouring unit for smoke inhalation and conveyed them to Singapore General Hospital.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Also read: Jurong East Flat Where Man Was Found Dead Catches Fire Again, No Injuries Reported
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Featured image adapted from Singapore Civil Defence Force on Facebook.
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