No time for fear, says man who battled van fire near Jurong Hill
He grabbed fire extinguishers and drove 500m to accident site at Jurong Hill after hearing explosion
He and his friends were prawn fishing at ATC Fishing Village in Jurong at around 7.30pm on Monday when he heard an explosion.
A van had lost control, crashed into the bushes and flipped over, setting off a massive fire.
Armed with a fire extinguisher, Mr Chris Lin, 39, drove to the site of the accident at Jurong Hill - about 500m away - and tried to put the fire out.
He told The New Paper: "I didn't have time to be scared. I was focused on putting out the fire. I was worried that if the bushes near the vehicle caught fire and (the van) rolled down the cliff, the whole ATC Fishing Village down the hill would be ruined and there would be more (injuries)."
FIRE TOO BIG
But the fire was too big to be put out with an extinguisher.
Fortunately, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) arrived at the scene and put out the fire with a water jet.
An SCDF spokesman said the cause of the fire is under investigation, and a spokesman from the Singapore Police Force said four people, aged between 17 and 21, were injured in the accident.
One was taken to National University Hospital and the other three to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.
There were reportedly seven people in the van.
The police spokesman added: "The 22-year-old male driver was arrested for drink driving. Police investigations are ongoing."
Mr Lin said: "We heard explosions and we noticed that the fire was getting bigger. From below the hill, we saw a few people running away from the fire."
Mr Alex Siew, 50, owner of ATC prawning centre, called the police and SCDF as Mr Lin grabbed as many fire extinguishers as he could and loaded them into his car.
When he was at the carpark, Mr Lin saw a young man walking down the slope.
"It was quite dark, but I noticed he was bleeding from his face and hands. I asked him what had happened and he pointed up the hill and said there was an accident."
Mr Lin said he noticed four people sitting on the ground, about 50m from the fire, and one of them looked "badly injured".
Mr Lin, who received first-aid and fire-fighting training from his time in the St John's Brigade, said his friends and family were shocked when they saw a video of the fire, which was taken by his friend and uploaded on YouTube.
"They were all scolding me, asking why I did this, but for me it was just basic instinct to help others."
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