SINGAPORE — A fire at an HDB flat in Bukit Panjang sent two people to hospital and forced about 70 residents to evacuate after black smoke poured from a sixth-floor unit on Monday afternoon.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the blaze at Block 126 Pending Road at around 3pm on Sept. 28. When firefighters arrived, they found heavy black smoke coming from the affected unit.
The fire involved items in the living room and was extinguished using a single water jet, SCDF said. The cause remains under investigation.
One Person Found Unconscious Inside Flat
During firefighting operations, SCDF personnel found an unconscious person inside the living room and brought the person out of the unit.
An SCDF paramedic and emergency medical technicians performed CPR before the person was taken to Woodlands Hospital.
A second person from a neighbouring unit was assessed for smoke inhalation and subsequently taken to Singapore General Hospital.
About 70 Residents Evacuated
As a precaution, approximately 70 people from the affected block were evacuated while emergency crews dealt with the fire.
The incident highlights the speed at which a residential fire can affect an entire HDB block, particularly when smoke spreads through shared spaces.
SCDF has not established what caused this particular fire, and investigators are continuing to examine the circumstances surrounding the blaze.
SCDF Warns About Common Causes of Home Fires
While the cause of the Bukit Panjang fire has not been determined, SCDF highlighted three of the most common causes of residential fires: unattended cooking, electrical fires and unattended lighted materials.
The agency advises residents to avoid leaving cooking unattended, keep cooking appliances clean and free of grease, avoid overloading electrical sockets and not leave burning materials unattended.
The Bukit Panjang incident serves as another reminder of how quickly a residential fire can trigger an emergency response involving an entire building.
With two people hospitalized and dozens of residents evacuated, attention now turns to the investigation into what started the fire inside the sixth-floor flat.
WWC ONE MEDIA G,A
