About 200 residents were evacuated for precautionary measures. PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER DE SOUZA/FACEBOOK
SINGAPORE - About 200 residents were evacuated after a fire broke out in a Housing Board flat in Queenstown in the wee hours of Dec 11.
When contacted, the Singapore Civil Defence Force said it was alerted to the fire in a ninth-floor unit at Block 3 Ghim Moh Road at about 12.35am.
The fire involved the contents of a living room, and its cause is being investigated. No injuries were reported.
In a Facebook post on Dec 11, Holland-Bukit Timah GRC MP Christopher de Souza said that he had visited the site of the fire and “requested to be briefed on (the investigation’s) findings”.
“In the meantime, maximum support will be given to all affected homes, including the provision of interim housing, where needed,” he added.
No details have been given on the damage caused by the fire.
Resident Saffire Ng, 30, said she had heard a sound akin to an explosion slightly past midnight and left her home with her dog and domestic helper immediately.
Some residents also banged on their neighbours’ front doors to alert them to the fire, and helped the elderly evacuate. As firefighters put out the fire, the residents waited at a nearby pavilion, she said.
Police officers helped everyone return safely to their homes at about 4am after doing a head count to ensure everyone was accounted for, added Ms Ng, who is the marketing director of Lunavae Pets, a pet shop at the ground floor of the block.
The firefighters were “tired out”, but remained at the scene until about 8am to ensure that everything was settled, she said.
The officers and residents who helped out “deserve a public commendation for what they have done”, she said. “It was a really heartwarming sight that we don’t really see these days.”
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SCDF
Fires
Queenstown