Buildings affected by Geylang shophouse fire to remain closed until assessed as safe: BCA
The Geylang shophouse that caught fire on Monday morning remains closed to its occupants, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said on Wednesday.
About 30 occupants from neighbouring shophouses were evacuated and there were no reported injuries, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said on Monday.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, a spokesman said its engineers found that the fire had caused damage to the timber roofing structure on the third floor of the two shophouse units at 59B and 61B Lorong 27 Geylang.
“BCA has instructed the owners to cordon off the buildings and appoint a professional engineer to conduct a detailed investigation of the damage to the structure and recommend rectification works to be carried out,” he said.
“The affected buildings will remain closed until the necessary rectification works have been carried out by the owners and assessed to be safe by BCA.”
BCA has also assessed that the remaining buildings are stable and remain structurally safe, and the adjacent buildings were not affected by the fire.
The Ministry of Manpower told ST its preliminary investigations indicate that the units housing migrant workers were not overcrowded.
“Employers of the affected workers have promptly relocated their workers,” it added.
SCDF said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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