Fire breaks out at spa & clinic in Little India shophouse, police cordon area off
A fire broke out at a shophouse in Little India earlier today (3 Feb).
The incident was captured on video by a nearby patron, Mr Rafiqul, who told MS News that the fire occurred at Norris Road at around 11am.
Mr Rafiqul, who was buying coffee nearby, said he noticed a strange smell before spotting smoke pouring out from the affected shophouse.
Image courtesy of Mr Rafiqul
Police officers arrived soon after.
A second video uploaded to Facebook showed the fire raging, with thick smoke engulfing two other shophouses next to it.
Mr Rafiqul told MS News that the affected shops were a spa centre and a clinic.
According to him, several spa workers as well as doctors and patients from the clinic evacuated the building after it caught fire.
The police officers on the scene were seen battling the flames using fire extinguishers.
Source: Mr Rafiqul on Facebook
Suddenly, the windows shattered loudly and sent glass shards flying as the blaze grew even larger.
“Move back!” one of them yelled. The officers then retreated to a safer distance to continue spraying their fire extinguishers.
Source: Mr Rafiqul on Facebook
Mr Rafiqul shared an update at 11.37am, showing Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) firefighters battling the flames with a hose.
He claimed that the fire had also affected the cars parked outside the shophouses.
Image courtesy of Mr Rafiqul
SCDF gets fire under control around noon
The police cordoned off the area with tape and evacuated everyone nearby. They watched the firefighting efforts from a distance.
Image courtesy of Mr Rafiqul
At 12.05pm, Mr Rafiqul updated MS News, saying the SCDF appeared to have gotten the fire under control.
The photo showed the smoke mostly cleared up, with firefighters still spraying with a hose attached to a fire truck.
Image courtesy of Mr Rafiqul
In a statement released on Facebook, SCDF confirmed it was alerted to the fire at about 11.15am.
The blaze had engulfed the inside of a two-storey shophouse and was spreading to the adjacent units, it said.
Firefighters quickly deployed two water jets on the exterior to prevent the fire from spreading further, while another was used to battle the flames inside the shophouse.
A fire blanket was also used to cover a car parked outside the affected shophouse.
SCDF said that the fire was extinguished within an hour.
The fire caused heat and smoke damage to the adjacent shophouses, while the car in front of the affected unit was also damaged.
No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Also read: ‘Unfortunate that this happened just before CNY’: Several cars damaged by fire at Ang Mo Kio carpark
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Featured image adapted from Mr Rafiqul on Facebook and courtesy of Mr Rafiqul.
