Ang Mo Kio fire: Two teenagers arrested for mischief by fire

SINGAPORE – Two teenage boys, aged 16 and 17, have been arrested for their alleged roles in

a fire in Ang Mo Kio

that resulted in 11 people being taken to hospital.

The pair were arrested for mischief by fire, the police said in a statement on Sept 26.

The incident happened before 8.25pm on Sept 25 at Block 510 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8.

The fire involved a personal mobility aid (PMA) and bicycles at the lift lobby on the seventh floor. The items were located near the central staircase.

Firefighters from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), which was alerted at 8.30pm, extinguished the fire, which also gutted furniture near the lift lobby.

About 90 residents from the block were evacuated as a precautionary measure, and 11 individuals between 18 months and 85 years old were assessed for smoke inhalation and taken to hospital.

Ms Piramela – who goes by a single name – said her family had a lot of difficulty evacuating her 86-year-old grandmother.

She said she had to go up and down the block a few times to get some help.

Said the 41-year-old, who lives on the seventh floor: “It was quite chaotic because this block has many senior citizens.

“But luckily, the firefighters helped carry my granny down from the fifth floor to safety. There was no way we could have done it without help.”

Ms Piramela said her grandmother did not go to the hospital for treatment.

Ms Ashwini Makesan, who is Ms Piramela’s aunt, said the fire might have started with an old sofa placed at the lobby.

“It had been there for a month or so. We were just three or four units away,” Ms Ashwini said in a Facebook post.

Ms Dezin Mwehla, a domestic helper from Myanmar who lives with 92-year-old Madam Tan Joo Eng on the seventh floor, said she was alerted to the fire when she heard a loud “boom”.

The 29-year-old added that she immediately evacuated Madam Tan.

The domestic helper said: “I had to quickly roll her out of the unit to the staircase at the side of the block.

“It would have been impossible for me to evacuate her by myself. Luckily, two other residents helped me carry Madam Tan, who was in a wheelchair.”

A resident living on the third floor, who gave his name only as Mr Phua, said he had to rely on a cane to walk down to the ground floor during the fire.

He said he usually relies on a PMA.

Said the 61-year-old: “It’s not so bad for me because I live on the third floor. I pity the seniors on the higher floors who had to get back home by using the staircase.”

When The Straits Times arrived at the block at about 11.30am, electricians were seen carrying out repair work on the seventh floor, which showed significant signs of damage on the walls and ceiling.

Volunteers from Cheng San Community Club were seen walking floor to floor, distributing packets of food to residents.

Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin, an MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC, said in a Facebook post on Sept 25 that cleaners and a team from the town council were on-site to start cleaning up once SCDF gave them the go-ahead.

Past incidents

The incident comes just weeks after

a 58-year-old man was arrested

for allegedly causing a fire at an HDB block in Chai Chee Avenue on Sept 5.

The fire resulted in four people being taken to hospital, and prompted the evacuation of about 50 residents.

In May, a 51-year-old man was arrested ove

r a fire that broke out at Whampoa Heights,

which involved items placed in the common corridor outside two units, one on the second floor and one on the third floor.

Photos of the incident posted on social media showed thick, black plumes of smoke billowing into the air, with flames on the second and third floors of Block 20 Jalan Tenteram.

Five people, including the suspect, were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation. About 40 people were evacuated as a result of the fire.