Two people were sent to the hospital on Wednesday (2 Sept) afternoon after a fire broke out at a flat in Yew Tee.
Footage posted on Facebook by Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC MP Alex Yam showed white smoke coming out from a unit on the top floor of Block 684D Choa Chu Kang Crescent.
Source: Alex Yam on Facebook
Mr Yam said the fire broke out in the kitchen of a top-floor flat at around 2.30pm.
No injuries have been reported, he added, with the fire put out “swiftly”.
However, residents were evacuated as a precaution while the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) attended to the incident.
Source: Alex Yam on Facebook
In response to queries from MS News, SCDF said it was alerted to the fire at about 2.20pm on 2 Sept.
It involved the contents of a kitchen in a 14th-floor flat and was extinguished by SCDF using a water jet.
About 20 people from the block were evacuated by the police and SCDF.
Two people had self-evacuated from the unit before SCDF arrived.
They were both assessed for smoke inhalation and were conveyed separately to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and Singapore General Hospital.
Source: Google Maps
While the cause of the fire is under investigation, SCDF said that the top three causes of residential fires in residential premises are:
It strongly advised residents not to leave cooking unattended and to keep stove-tops, cooker hoods and ovens clean and free of grease.
Power sockets or charging devices should not be overloaded overnight without supervision, it noted.
Lastly, lighted materials, such as incense or cigarettes, should never be left unattended. They must be fully extinguished before being thrown away, SCDF added.
A few hours later, Mr Yam updated that residents of the block had been allowed to return to their flats.
But the affected unit had sustained “extensive damage”, he said.
HDB has arranged temporary housing in Bukit Batok for the affected family, with Mr Yam promising further assistance.
He thanked SCDF for their swift response and town council staff for arriving quickly at the site to assist.
Also read: 2 sent to hospital after blaze in Choa Chu Kang flat, 200 residents evacuated
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Featured image adapted from Alex Yam on Facebook.