Four tenants flee Tampines flat after dryer catches fire, residents hear loud explosions

SINGAPORE: A dryer suspected of overheating reportedly sparked a fire in a four-room HDB flat on the 13th floor of a block in Tampines Street on Oct 18.

The fire broke out at around 4.45 p.m. on Oct 18, severely damaging the flat’s kitchen and living room. The four tenants fled the unit as the fire spread, Zaobao reported.

The tenants said the dryer started smoking, and the clothes inside caught fire. They tried to put out the flames with water, but the fire had grown too large to control.

The dryer was reportedly bought six or seven years ago and had been running for about two hours when the fire broke out.

In an interview, a male resident living below the apartment admitted that he had noticed white smoke coming from the upstairs unit, followed by a burning smell. Shortly after, there were police officers who came knocking on their door, asking for them to evacuate. Other residents living downstairs from the unit also heard loud explosions at the time of the incident. 

When reporters arrived at the scene, they discovered that there were three or four fire trucks parked on the ground floor of the HDB block, and the authorities had already closed off the area. Furthermore, the Civil Defence Force successfully extinguished the fire, and the evacuated residents were gradually allowed to return to their homes. 

The authorities extinguished the fire with a water cannon, and no one was injured in the incident. The real cause of the fire is still under investigation. 

In a separate incident, a fire broke out in a Woodlands bedroom, suspected to have been caused by a power bank left on the bed while the tenant was out eating.

Read more about the news story here.