Man rescued from fire in Tampines flat as Bedok coffee shop also goes up in flames

In less than two hours late on Friday (Jan 28) evening, two fires broke out in eastern Singapore, with a flat in Tampines gutted and a coffee shop in Bedok going up in smoke.

In Tampines, firefighters had to break down a bedroom door in the flat to rescue an unconscious man trapped in the burning unit.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post that the fire was raging at a two-storey flat on the 10th storey of Block 941 Tampines Avenue 5 when their officers arrived at the scene after being alerted at 10.30pm.

The flames had totally engulfed the unit and firefighters from Tampines Fire Station and Changi Fire Station had to force their way into the flat.

They also had to force their way into a bedroom on the first storey of the flat, where they found a man lying unconscious on the floor.

The firefighters immediately carried him out of the burning unit, SCDF said.

The man was assessed by an ambulance crew and was taken to Changi General Hospital.

The fire was eventually extinguished with two water jets and about 180 people from neighbouring units were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, SCDF added.

In videos posted on social media, flames and smoke can be seen pouring out of the Tampines flat as onlookers shouted and screamed.

The sound of glass breaking can be heard in one three-second clip that showed debris falling from the unit.

The fire in Bedok occurred around midnight, according to eyewitnesses.

In videos posted online, large plumes of dark smoke could be seen rising out of a coffee shop at Block 204 Bedok North Street 1.

An eyewitness, who lives opposite the site of the fire, said he heard loud popping noises around midnight.

"It sounded like many skateboards popping off the ground, but 30 seconds later there was a loud explosion," he told The Straits Times.

Within moments, he saw smoke rising from the four-storey building and residents evacuating.

From his flat on the 22nd storey, he heard residents shouting as they hurried out of the building.

He said SCDF officers arrived in about five minutes and put out the fire by 12.30am.

When ST arrived at the scene at about 1am, residents who had evacuated from their homes were seen gathering at an open area near Djitsun Mall Bedok.

Many were in tears as police officers rounded them up by their residential units and asked if their families were accounted for.

They were then sent to SCDF medics for checks.

There were two ambulances at the scene, but it was not clear at the time if there were any casualties.

A resident living on the fourth storey of Block 204 said she was sleeping at the time of the fire and was woken up by the smell of smoke and sounds of people shouting.

The grassroots leader, who wanted to be known only as Gina, said the smoke outside her door was too thick for her to evacuate and she decided stay put.

Police arrived at her door shortly after the fire was put out and told her to leave.

"The fire started around midnight and within five minutes, it had become quite big," she said.

A function room at Heartbeat @ Bedok nearby was opened to allow residents to take refuge as it was unclear how long they would need wait.

Ms Gina said there are around 50 units at Block 204.

"People looked out for each other and knocked on doors to make sure people were awake and aware," she added.