With the 7th lunar month upon us, you might have seen many Singaporeans heading down to their void decks to burn joss sticks and incense paper as offerings.
While many of them practice good fire safety by, some, unfortunately, do not.
Recently, a Mercedes driver reportedly had his car’s rear bumper charred after parking too close to a bunch of lighted candles.
A picture of the damage was shared on the Singapore Road Accident Facebook group, garnering over 2,000 shares at the time of writing.
In the picture, a grey Mercedes sedan’s rear bumper was appeared to be severely charred.
Several tiny candles were seen near where the car was parked and was likely what had caused the damage.
The candles near the damaged portion of the bumper also appear bent — an indication that the Mercedes had reversed into them.
The car’s paint job appears to have been decimated by the heat, exposing the bare steel frame underneath.
Lianhe Zaobao, however, reported that the fire “was not large” given the size of the charred area. They also hypothesised that the owner discovered the fire and extinguished it quickly.
While it’s impossible to ascertain the location where the incident took place, the Mercedes does have a Singapore car plate — a sign that it likely happened here in the republic.
In light of the 7th lunar month, the Singapore Civil Defence Force has issued a series of fire safety tips for worshippers.
The advise most relevant to the incident in question can be found at the bottom of the infographic — do not place burning joss sticks and candles on grass patches or fields.
Those staying in public housing estates should also burn incense papers in specified incense burners or metal containers.
Such burners should also be placed on a sturdy ground away from combustible objects and residential units.
Before leaving, worshippers should ensure that all embers are extinguished.
Our hearts go out to the Mercedes owner whose car’s rear bumper was damaged by the fire
We hope this serves as a lesson for drivers to be more careful whenever they’re parking. We also hope worshippers would adhere to the advisory put out by SCDF to prevent similar incidents from happening.
Featured image adapted from Facebook and Wikipedia.
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