Singapore – The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted to a fire at a Tampines flat on Friday night (Jan 28), resulting in the evacuation of about 180 people from neighbouring units.
SCDF said in a Facebook post that the fire at Block 941 Tampines Avenue 5 was raging at about 10:30 pm and had totally engulfed a two-storey unit on the 10th floor.
Firefighters from Tampines Fire Station and Changi Fire Station had to conduct forcible entry to gain access into the unit.
During firefighting operations within the unit, firefighters also conducted forcible entry into a bedroom on the first storey and found a man lying unconscious on the floor, said SCDF.
The man was immediately rescued from the burning unit.
SCDF ambulance crew assessed the man before he was conveyed to Changi General Hospital.
Firefighters extinguished the flames, which involved the contents of the entire unit, using two water jets.
About 180 people from neighbouring units were evacuated as a precautionary measure.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Videos of the fire were posted on social media, showing the flames and smoke pouring out of the flat while bystanders shouted.
https://fb.watch/aQEabyDnVA/
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At one point, the sound of breaking glass was heard and debris fell from the affected unit.
In a separate incident, a coffee shop in Bedok also went up in flames on Friday night, less than two hours after the Tampines fire.
Billowing smoke was spotted rising from a coffee shop at Block 204 Bedok North Street 1.
An eyewitness told The Straits Times that SCDF officers arrived in about five minutes and put out the fire by 12:30 am.
The eyewitness lived opposite the coffee shop and heard loud popping sounds around midnight.
“It sounded like many skateboards popping off the ground, but 30 seconds later, there was a loud explosion,” he recalled.
It was reported that a function room at Heartbeat@Bedok was opened to evacuees from the estimated 50 units nearby./TISG
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