'It all burned': Food stall in Malaysia catches fire after rain falls on hot oil
The vendor said the fire was caused by rainwater falling on the hot oil in the pan.
A leaky tarp at a fried food stall in Malacca, Malaysia, sparked a sudden oil fire.
The incident, which occurred at a Ramadan bazaar on March 12, was captured on video by the affected vendor, Adicto Churros Melaka, who subsequently uploaded it to their TikTok account.
The video has since garnered over 150,000 views**.**
In the 18-second clip, a man in the stall is seen talking to the camera when flames suddenly engulf the whole stall before shrinking and revealing a wok behind him still on fire.
Speaking to Malaysian media outlet WeirdKaya, the stall owner who was not named said the incident happened as the staff was heating up the oil to fry churros**.**
It was raining heavily at that time, which caused water to collect on the tarp over the food stall.
"The tent started leaking, and the water fell directly onto the hot oil, causing the fire," said the owner, who added that there was no problem with the pan and that it didn't cause the fire.
"We really didn't have time to save anything. It all burned."
Another video posted on the vendor's TikTok account showed the fire died down about 15 seconds later. There appears to be no casualties.
Due to the fire, the vendor was forced to stop business for the day.
"We've been running our stall for a long time, and this incident won't break our spirit," the owner said.
"We'll definitely continue, but we'll be more careful and alert from now on."
In January, a woman in Singapore suffered burns while attempting to extinguish an oil fire which broke out in her flat at Block 229A Sumang Lane.
She had tried to extinguish the fire by adding water, which caused the fire to intensify.
To prevent oil fires at home, one should not leave their cooking unattended and not pour water onto hot cookware, according to the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
One should not put out an oil fire with water but should instead cover the wok with a wet cloth or a metal lid.
lim.kewei@asiaone.com
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