Fires at 3 separate public housing blocks overnight; 3 people taken to hospital

SINGAPORE — Fires broke out at three separate public housing blocks on Friday (Jan 28) night and early on Saturday, with three people being taken to hospital.

In the space of about six hours, firefighters battled blazes at Block 941 Tampines Avenue 5, Block 204 Bedok North Street 1 and Block 39 Telok Blangah Rise, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said on its Facebook page.

During the operations, firefighters rescued two people found unconscious — a man in Tampines and a woman in Telok Blangah.

The police separately arrested a 73-year-old man for suspected mischief by fire in relation to the Telok Blangah blaze. 

The fires have been put out and the authorities are investigating what caused them.

BLOCK 941 TAMPINES AVE 5

At about 10.30pm on Friday, SCDF was alerted to the fire in Tampines.

“Upon SCDF’s arrival, the fire was raging and had totally engulfed a two-storey unit on the 10th floor,” it said.

Firefighters broke into the unit and had to force their way into a bedroom on the first storey of the flat. There, they rescued a man who was lying unconscious on the floor. 

After he was taken out of the burning unit, ambulance crew assessed his condition and took him to Changi General Hospital in Simei. 

The fire involved the contents of the unit and about 180 people from nearby flats were evacuated as a precaution.

BLOCK 204 BEDOK NORTH ST 1

At Bedok, a blaze engulfed a coffee shop on the ground floor of the block. The kitchen exhaust duct at the side of the building was also on fire.

Firefighters, who were alerted to the blaze around 11.50pm on Friday, quickly began to contain the fire with water jets. They later forced their way into the coffee shop to continue the firefighting operation.

The fire was extinguished in an hour, SCDF said.

Damping-down operations — applying water to wet burnt surfaces after a fire is put out to prevent a potential rekindling — are under way. 

There were no reported injuries. About 55 people from the residential units above the coffee shop were evacuated.

BLOCK 39 TELOK BLANGAH RISE

And at about 4.40am on Saturday, SCDF was alerted to a fire at Telok Blangah.

A “raging” fire had engulfed a 10th-floor unit.

Firefighters donned breathing apparatus sets and moved into the smoke-logged unit to put out the fire, which involved the contents of the entire unit.

At a housing unit above the flat that was on fire, firefighters found a woman lying unconscious on the floor. 

She was taken out of the unit to a lift lobby, where SCDF crew members performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her. She was later taken to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) in Outram.

Another person was taken to SGH for smoke inhalation. About 280 people were evacuated as a precaution.

In response to TODAY's enquiries, a police spokesperson said that a 25-year-old woman was conscious and a 48-year-old woman was unconscious when they were taken to the hospital.

A 73-year-old man was arrested for suspected mischief by fire. Police investigations are under way.