Fire breaks out at Lucky Plaza

SINGAPORE — A fire erupted in Lucky Plaza this afternoon (Dec 18), the latest in a series of incidents that have hit the Orchard Road shopping belt his month.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted at about 1.10pm from a caller, who spotted smoke coming out from level two of the shopping centre. Ventilation ducts on level one were reportedly affected as well. 

Eyewitnesses told Channel NewsAsia that the smoke was emitting from Indonesian restaurant Warung Surabaya. A 40-year-old part-time worker there, who identified himself only as Mr Soh, said there were about 40 to 50 patrons at the time and the fire had started in the kitchen exhaust fan. 

A fire alarm in the shopping centre went off at 1.15pm and the SCDF arrived shortly, with a public announcement telling shoppers to evacuate using the stairs. Mr Eric Tumewu, 31, general manager at optical shop Koolook, told the news channel: “It was very crowded. The smoke was very thick.” Shoppers were not panicky, he added, but the mall management was “shouting at us to move out”. 

Two fire engines, two red rhinos, five support vehicles and an ambulance were at the scene and the fire was extinguished with three water jets. No injuries were reported.

A video clip by Channel 8 news shows the scene on the ground after shoppers were told the evacuate the mall.

Rescue work happening in the Orchard Road area has been in the news of late.

Last Sunday, four people were sent to hospital after a part of the false ceiling at the Hilton Hotel’s visitor drop-off area collapsed. On Dec 12, there was a blackout at Orchard Central, caused by water seepage from a downpour. And two days earlier, a 48-year-old Indonesian man fell several stories to his death inside Wisma Atria. Earlier this month, a Christmas tree outside Knightsbridge mall caught fire, and a Christmas decoration on a lamp post near Peranakan Place went up in flames.

The SCDF said in a statement last week that it would be stepping up on fire safety enforcement checks at various commercial premises, stating that it had inspected shopping malls and public entertainment outlets at Tampines, Jurong and Clarke Quay on Dec 11.

Some fire safety violations it had found included unauthorised change of the use of space in parts of the premises, non-functioning exit lights and obstruction to common passageways and exit doors.

The SCDF warned that “such violations pose fire risks and impede the safe evacuation of people during an emergency”. It added that these checks would continue throughout the festive season, and that it would not hesitate to “take tough enforcement actions against the offenders”.