Fire in HDB flat near Tiong Bahru likely due to electrical fault
A fire, likely caused by an electrical fault, engulfed a room in a Housing Board flat near Tiong Bahru on the afternoon of Oct 20.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post that it was alerted to the incident at Block 2A Boon Tiong Road at about 1.30pm.
Black smoke could be seen coming out from a unit on the 10th floor when SCDF arrived.
“The fire, which involved contents of a room in the unit, was extinguished by firefighters with a water jet. There was no one inside the unit,” said SCDF.
About 20 residents from neighbouring units were evacuated by the police and SCDF as a precautionary measure. There were no reported injuries.
Preliminary investigations showed that the fire was likely caused by an electrical fault in the affected room.
There were 1,954 fires in total in 2023, an 8.6 per cent hike from 1,799 cases in 2022. Of the 1,954 fires, 970 took place in residential buildings, an increase of 3.7 per cent from 935 in 2022.
The top two causes were electrical fires with 597 cases, and unattended cooking with 456 cases, according to SCDF statistics.
Additionally, fire injuries fell from 171 to 81, and deaths from eight to three, from 2022 to 2023.
In its advisory, SCDF urged the public to avoid overloading power sockets and to switch off electrical appliances when not in use, in order to prevent electrical fires.
People should not leave batteries or devices to charge unattended for an extended period of time or overnight.
They should also check the condition of wires regularly, and replace or repair frayed or cracked wires immediately.
SCDF also advised the public against leaving wires under carpets or mats, and to keep them away from hot surfaces.
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