Woodlands Evangelical Free Church’s rooftop caught fire due to an electrical fault in the sound system

SINGAPORE: A fire broke out at the Woodlands Evangelical Free Church, and it was believed that the fire started due to the poor audio system of the church’s auditorium. 

A resident admitted that the fire started around 3 a.m., when he saw smoke outside the window. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) also stated that they were alerted at 1 Woodlands Street 83 at about 3:45 a.m. 

Furthermore, the SCDF confirmed that the fire involved the sound system in the church’s auditorium located on the fourth floor, and they extinguished the fire with a water jet. Fortunately, there were no casualties in the incident, and preliminary investigations show that the sound system had a circuit failure. 

With this, the planned physical church activities will be cancelled and will be temporarily replaced with online gatherings, worship, pastor sermons, and prayers. 

Fire Safety Tips

Here are some of the fire prevention tips that might help everyone in case of a fire emergency: 

If an individual is the first to come into contact with fire: 

1. Don’t panic and call 995 for the SCDF.
2. Alert others about the fire and get everyone out.
3. If possible, close the door and shut the windows of the room where the fire is located to contain it.
4. Turn off the gas mains if you can reach it. 
5. Get a fire extinguisher and try to put out the fire without endangering yourself or others. To escape through smoke, stay as low as you can, face down and crawl on your hands and knees. Avoid moving through the centre of the room and stay close to the walls.
6. When escaping, always use the stairs and head to ground level. If there is smoke in the stairwell, stay put. Don’t go higher.

If an individual is trapped by the fire and cannot leave the premises immediately: 

1. Enter a safe room, preferably one with a window that overlooks a road.
2. Shut the door behind you, but don’t lock it. Cover the bottom gap of the door with a blanket or rug to prevent smoke from seeping through.
3. If you have access to a phone, call 995 and inform the operator of your location, what is on fire and if there are others trapped with you.
4. If you do not have access to a phone, shout for help from the window. Never attempt to climb out or jump out of the building. Wait patiently until help comes.