Fire rages at Jurong West, 300 evacuated
About 300 residents were evacuated in the early hours of Tuesday morning (Oct 11) after a fire raged through a wet market and coffee shop at Block 493 Jurong West Street 41.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted to the fire at 2.45am, and had sent a text message to residents.
The fire, believed to have started at the marketplace before spreading to other shops, was put out by the SCDF at around 5am.
When The New Paper arrived at the scene at 5.15am, there was no visible fire but the SCDF were using water jets at the marketplace and shops.
SCDF personnel putting out the fire at Jurong West Street 41. TNP PHOTO: ISABELLE LIEWIn a statement on its Facebook page, SCDF said that at the height of the fire, the roof of the wet market collapsed and the exterior side wall of a coffee shop at Blk 494, which was directly facing the raging blaze, sustained fire damage.
Resident Ms Hu, 34, lives just above the coffee shop, and was sleeping when the fire broke out.
She told The New Paper in Mandarin: "I was sleeping when my neighbour knocked on my door telling us to close the windows, as we sleep with the windows open. There was a very strong smoke smell.
"I was scared at first as I thought something exploded."
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