Fire breaks out at Jurong West coffee shop

SINGAPORE – A fire broke out at a coffee shop at Jurong West on Saturday (March 5). There were no injuries, said the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) in response to media queries.

The fire, at a coffee shop at Block 442 Jurong West Avenue 1, involved the contents of a store, said the SCDF. Fourteen residents were evacuated from the block during the fire by the SCDF and police officers.

The SCDF said it was alerted to the incident at 3.35pm and had sent two fire engines, a red rhino, an ambulance and a support vehicle to the scene. Upon arrival, the fire was extinguished using two water jets.

Mr Earnest Tham, an eyewitness at the scene, said he saw plumes of smoke coming from the roof of the block, as well as burn marks on the exhaust pipes outside the building.

Member of Parliament Desmond Lee (Jurong GRC) said in a Facebook post that a man, Mr Rohaizat, was visiting his elderly father at the block next door, and had seen the fire. "(He) immediately rushed over to help evacuate some families. I met him to thank him for his quick thinking and courageous act. Also called on some of the families who were evacuated, including an elderly couple and their grandson. Thankfully they were unharmed," wrote Mr Lee.

Mr Lee added that power supply has been restored to the neighboring stalls. Technicians and cleaners will move in to restore the affected parts of the coffeeshop to normalcy after the police and SCDF hand the site back to the operators, he said.

CHANNEL NEWSASIA