Huge fire breaks out at CK Building in Tampines

SINGAPORE — In her seventh-floor office on Tampines Street 92, Madam Amy Lau, a human-resources administrator at Vishay Intertechnology Asia, was going about her usual workday when she caught sight of smoke billowing out of the fourth-floor of the CK Building next door. Soon after, her firm’s 100-odd employees were also told to evacuate. 

The fire, which was seen by people in the area as early as 1.30pm on Wednesday (Aug 17), went on to engulf the fourth, fifth and sixth floors of the six-storey building, and rage for at least four-and-a-half hours before being brought under control. 

Its plumes of smoke visible as far as Changi Airport, the fire saw the largest deployment of Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) resources in an industrial estate so far this year.

Sixty-seven myCK Department Store staff and three visitors were in the building at the time of the incident. No one was injured, although a firefighter was taken to hospital for heat exhaustion.

When TODAY arrived at the scene at 2.25pm, the fire was burning out of control and police were seen cordoning off the surrounding area. Loud explosive sounds — which the SCDF believed stemmed from household aerosol cans — were heard as firefighters battled the blaze. 

In the area opposite the building, police officers were also seen instructing  curious onlookers — many of whom had donned face masks — to move further backwards as the fires and explosions intensified. 

To battle the blaze, the SCDF despatched 110 officers and 27 emergency vehicles, including fire engines, support vehicles and ambulances. Four aerial appliances mounted on combined platform ladders were also deployed.  

It put out the fire using water jets from the exterior of the building, as the intense heat generated by items in the premises, including paper products and aerosol cans, had prevented firefighters from fighting the fire from inside the building. 

Ms Kam Wei Feng, 37, a Swensens ice-cream cake decoration staff member who works in the neighbouring ABR Building, said she saw smoke billowing from the CK Building at about 1.50pm and said Swensens employees were evacuated immediately as a precaution.

A technician carrying out repair works on a water dispenser at the other adjacent building, who did not give her name, said there was a sharp smell of smoke in the air and building staff were evacuated in “less than 10 minutes” of her catching sight of the fire at 1.35pm.

Ms Lau, 58, also caught sight of several myCK Department Store employees being evacuated from the building.

Ms Mandy Lai, Vishay’s human resources director, said the company’s employees will work from home on Thursday, as the building landlord would be sending personnel to assess the building’s safety.  

There were concerns over the possible effects of the heat from the fire on the cables in its server room, and whether smoke dust would infiltrate the building’s air-conditioning system. “For the safety of our employees, we ... felt that (we shouldn’t) ask them to come down (tomorrow) so that (it is) easier for assessment,” Ms Lai added. 

Speaking to TODAY, Mr Tan Chua Jian, myCK Department Store’s deputy general manager, declined to elaborate on the incident, stressing that the matter was “under investigation”. 

He said the building’s warehouse comprised mostly garments and personal-care items, such as toiletries. Asked about the losses suffered by the firm, he said it was unclear at this juncture, but he believed “all cannot be used because they are wet”. 

At the firm’s request, a staff member was allowed to retrieve back-up computer files from the first floor of the building, so that the firm’s outlet operations may continue unaffected. Some outlets were unable to scan or receive stock on Wednesday, Mr Tan explained.

Mr Tan said some of the affected employees would be deployed to its outlets on Thursday, while the rest would be recalled where necessary. He added that a professional engineer appointed by the firm would inspect the structural integrity of the building on Thursday morning.

Most of the myCK staff TODAY approached declined to comment, with only one staff member saying that they “ran out” of the building after being told to evacuate.

In an interview with the press at about 6pm on Wednesday, Assistant Commissioner Ling Young Ern, who helms the SCDF’s operations department, said the fire was “under control”. “However, from what we’ve observed, the intensity of the fire might have affected the structural integrity of certain parts of the building,” he added.  

In a Facebook update at about 7.35pm, the SCDF said that with the fire under control, it was moving its focus from fighting the “deep-seated fire” from the outside to an “interior attack”.

Sharing photos in a subsequent update, it said its firefighters, equipped with breathing apparatus sets, were navigating through “pitch darkness”.