SINGAPORE — A family that once relied on personal mobility devices (PMDs) to get around and for work have now sworn off them, after an e-scooter that was charging in their home caught fire.

Madam Sadiah, who declined to reveal her full name or to have her photos taken to protect the identity of her family, said: “(My sons) don’t want to ride PMDs already. They stopped doing (food deliveries) because they (are) scared already. The PMD is like a ticking time bomb.”

The 48-year-old housewife, her husband and their three children lost everything they owned when their rental Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat went up in flames on the afternoon of July 22.

Sixty people from Block 224, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, had to be evacuated while one adult and three children had to be rescued from the neighbouring unit on the fourth floor by the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force officers.

Mdm Sadiah was out shopping in the neighbourhood when she received a call from one of her sons who told her their home was on fire.

“I thought it was a small fire, so I told him to put out with water. Then he said cannot, the (PMD) explode already,” she recalled.

The fire, which started in the kitchen, spread too fast for Mdm Sadiah’s sons to extinguish.

Her sons, aged 26 and 30, were resting at home after having worked the night shift.

She hurried back to her block where she found that a fire engine had already arrived and was thankful to see that her sons had made it out of the flat safely.

“They could not take anything (with them) because the fire spread so fast,” she said, adding that they were downstairs wearing only their boxer shorts. 

S$6,000 CASH WENT UP IN SMOKE  

To celebrate Hari Raya Puasa the month before, the family bought new furniture for their rental flat, including a brand new sofa.

It was also the end of the month and Mdm Sadiah had withdrawn about S$6,000 from the bank to keep in her house as “emergency money” and for their expenses.

The fire was so widespread that they lost everything, including furniture, clothes and all S$6,000 in cash.

“I don’t know how to feel. I want to feel sad, I cannot feel sad,” she said. “Only one thing… I just feel for the safety of my children, and where to live (after this), that’s it.”

HDB, along with the Ang Mo Kio Town Council, found an unoccupied unit for her family to move to in the same block on the second floor that night, and the family is still there for now.

They were also provided with a mattress, a bed and a standing fan.

THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

On the night of the fire itself, neighbours, family and friends visited them and donated provisions such as food rations.

The next day, Mdm Sadiah sought financial assistance from the Social Service Office at Ang Mo Kio. They helped her waive three months worth of rental fees pegged at about S$300 a month.  

On the days following the fire, she went to the mosque nearby in search for donations.

“I didn’t delay, because it’s very difficult when you have nothing,” she said.

Her daughter-in-law also helped out by posting about the family’s dire situation on Facebook which, Mdm Sadiah said, went viral and resulted in volunteers “coming from all over to donate”.

“I don’t even know their names and contact,” she said. “When they come, I just tell them, we can’t pay you because we have no money.”

She recalls how a man reached out to the family on Facebook, explaining that he would be renovating his house and asking the family to go over to take whatever they wanted.

“My sons went over and they came back with the fan, TV console... It’s not brand new, but all still can use.

“All the things here were given by people,” she said, showing TODAY around her temporary home. “I’m very grateful.”

She added that her previous unit, where she had lived for the past 20 years, was fully restored by HDB and is up for rent.

ONE AMONG MANY

In the first half of this year, there were 54 reported fires involving PMDs, more than double the 24 reported in the same period last year.

On July 18, a fire in a Bukit Batok flat linked to e-scooters claimed the life of a 40-year-old man.

On Oct 7, Dr Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State for Transport, said that his ministry will be undertaking a comprehensive review to consider whether the Government needs to rethink its approach and introduce more measures to improve public path safety and reduce PMD-related fire risks.

By July next year, all PMD users in Singapore will have to comply with UL2272, a safety standard that will reduce the risk of fires.

‘NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD HAPPEN TO US’

Although they previously owned four PMDs — her sons used to do food deliveries and have night rides with friends — they had sold most of them by the time the accident happened.

Mdm Sadiah said that the PMD which caught fire was not even her family’s but belonged to her daughter’s fiance.

The couple had exchanged PMDs because they had gone riding the night before and the fiance’s device ran out of battery at Mdm Sadiah’s flat.

“He used my daughter’s PMD to go back (home) while his PMD was charging at our house.”