On Monday (14 Aug) morning, a flat in Redhill caught fire.
As firefighters attended to the fire, three children were found in the unit and sent to hospital.
Source: Google Maps
The cause of the blaze is likely to be the batteries of two personal mobility devices (PMDs) that were charging in the living room.
In a Facebook post on Monday (14 Aug), the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to a fire at 7.20am that morning.
The location was a flat in Block 71 Redhill Road.
Firefighters from Alexandra Fire Station and Marina Bay Fire Station responded and had to break the padlock of the unit’s metal gate to gain access.
The SCDF was informed by residents that the unit’s occupants were trapped inside while the fire raged.
A team searched the premises and found three children in the toilet at the back of the kitchen. They were carried out.
Another two people in the unit self-evacuated via a window in the bedroom.
Besides the five humans, five cats were also brought out of the unit.
The humans were assessed by an ambulance crew for smoke inhalation.
While the adults declined to be sent to hospital, the three children were sent to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital as they suffered from smoke inhalation.
25 other people — residents of neighbouring flats — were evacuated as a precaution.
As for the fire, it was located at the corner of the living room and extinguished using several buckets of water, SCDF said.
It likely originated from the batteries of two PMDs, according to preliminary investigations. They were found to be charging in the room.
Source: SCDF on Facebook
SCDF advised members of the public to prevent PMD fires by not charging the batteries for an extended period of time, or overnight.
Non-original batteries should also not be purchased or built.
Here are some more fire safety tips for PMDs and power-assisted bicycles (PABs).
Source: SCDF on Facebook
There have been quite a number of fires that have broken due to similar reasons.
In May, a fire broke out in a Sengkang flat that was likely caused by a PMD battery pack.
Three people were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation after the incident.
In October 2021, one person unfortunately passed away when a fire caused by a charging PMD ravaged a flat in Jurong West.
Hopefully, PMD and PAB users will adhere to the safety measures and regulations that the SCDF has laid out after these incidents.
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Featured image adapted from SCDF on Facebook and Google Maps.
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