Fire breaks out at flat in Bedok Reservoir Road

An electrical short circuit is believed to have sparked a fire in a Bedok Reservoir Road flat that left its facade charred yesterday.

No one was injured in the fire, which was extinguished by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) using two water jets.

The fire started in the first-storey unit and "involved the contents of a bedroom", according to the SCDF, which was alerted to the incident just after 12.30pm.

The flat is occupied by a family who neighbours say have lived there for about three years.

Members of the family declined to speak to The Sunday Times.

Mr Muammar Gaddafi, who lives on the second floor in the adjacent block, was smoking by the window when he saw smoke coming out of the unit. "At first I thought it was coming from an incense bin, then I saw smoke coming out from the kitchen too," he said.

The 27-year-old personal driver called the SCDF and went to check on the unit. "Luckily, there was no one at home and there were no casualties," he said.

Smoke and soot crept up the side of other units in the four-storey block. Ms Crystal Chan, 34, who lives just above the affected unit with her parents, had her windows shattered by the heat.

When The Sunday Times visited her flat at about 3.30pm, the floor tiles were still warm.

"This sooty smell will last for at least a week," said Ms Chan, a shipping industry analyst. "Even if we get a contractor (to do repairs), they won't start work so soon because it's Chinese New Year."