Family flees fire after borrowed PMD bursts into flames in flat
Couple and kids flee fire using mattress as shield
He awoke to the smell of something burning and saw thickblack smoke entering his kitchen window.
Realising it came from the unit below, Mr Mohamad Ubi, 62, left his 13th-storey flat to investigate.
"At first I was fearful for my wife and 13-year-old son. I was wondering if we needed to evacuate. But a police officer told me to go back upstairs as it was a personal mobility device (PMD) fire," he said.
The fire broke out at about 5am yesterday in a 12th-storey unit at Block 364B Sembawang Crescent.
A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) spokesman said the fire involved the contents of a living room and was extinguished using a hose reel and two compressed air foam backpacks.
A preliminary investigation revealed that the fire came from a PMD that was charging at the time.
There were no reported injuries.
The flat owner, 25, told Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Wanbao yesterday that the battery of a PMD his friend had lent him caught fire and engulfed the device.
FLED
He quickly woke his wife up and they carried their two children, aged four and seven, out of the flat, using a mattress to shield themselves from the flames.
Dr Lim Wee Kiak, MP for Sembawang GRC (Canberra), told The New Paper that they are staying temporarily at the home of the flat owner's mother.
He said the Housing Board is arranging for a rental unit for them and food rations has been distributed to the family.
Mr Ayie Syahid, 30, who lives on the 10th storey, was woken by his mother at 4.50am when she heard a loud sound and smelled smoke.
"I was scared as I didn't know where the fire was. I was afraid it would spread to my flat, which I had just moved in a month ago," said the warehouse assistant.
Dr Lim added: "We need to do more to raise awareness of the danger of non-approved PMD chargeable batteries and encourage residents not to use such PMDs."
In a Facebook post yesterday, the SCDF reminded the public to prevent PMD fires by using UL2272-certified devices and to look out for certification marks when purchasing a PMD.
On Aug 6, two adults and a child were taken to hospital after a fire started from a PMD that was being charged in a Choa Chu Kang flat.
On July 22, a woman and four children were rescued after a fire started from a PMD in an Ang Mo Kio flat.
On July 18, a 41-year-old man and his wife were rescued after a fire broke out in their Bukit Batok flat.
Three burnt e-scooters were found inside the flat. The man died in hospital two days later.
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