A pre-dawn fire at the East Coast Park food centre left four stalls in tatters with most of their roof tiles and shutters burnt to a crisp.

The fire, which started at about 4am on Friday morning, affected stalls 54 to 57 which included drinks and food stalls, and one of the more famous satay stores in Singapore, Haron Satay.

Mr Suradi Osman, 53, who operates another satay store at number 56, said he received a call from his nephew at about 6am informing him of the fire. He said Singapore Civil Defence Force officers later told him the fire started because of wiring from his unit, but he said he had switched everything off the night before, except for his freezer.

The owner of stall 54, Ms Zaiton Mohamed Nor, 60, said she received a call from a neighbouring stallholder at about 6am, and rushed to the scene. Ms Zaiton, who sells a variety of dishes, said the fire had been put out when she arrived at about 6.45am. "There was a smell of ash; a burnt charcoal smell," said Ms Zaiton, who estimated that she suffered over $20,000 of damage.