Condo resident gets SCDF award for putting out kitchen fire and evacuating residents
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For his bravery and public spiritedness, the Singapore Civil Defence Force presented Mr Bryan Toh, 36, with the Community Lifesaver Award on Monday.
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
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SINGAPORE – Bukit Panjang resident Bryan Toh never imagined that a day out washing his car would end up with him putting out a fire.
On March 6, Mr Toh was washing his car at his condominium carpark in the Cashew area when he noticed smoke coming from his neighbour’s ground-floor unit.
Without thinking twice, Mr Toh, who is the regional director for business development at a food tech firm, rushed to get a hose from his car and began to tackle the fire.
For his bravery and public-spiritedness, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) presented Mr Toh, 36, with the Community Lifesaver Award on Monday.
The award is given to people whose actions involve an element of risk to themselves or who help save lives, or both.
Along with Mr Toh, five other people received the Community First Responder Award, given to those who step forward to help those who are in distress or save property.
Speaking to The Straits Times, Mr Toh, who is married and has two children aged eight and six, said the fire grew so quickly that he reacted purely on instinct.
He said: “When I went to get the hose from my car, I remember that the smoke was white.
“Then, the smoke became much more severe and turned black in the space of only 30 seconds.”
Mr Toh remembered shouting “Fire! Fire!” to alert people in the nearby units while calling the SCDF. He said he could feel the adrenaline coursing through his bloodstream.
With the help of his neighbours, he connected the hose to a water tap and managed to put out the fire before the SCDF arrived.
He said: “If I wasn’t washing my car, I wouldn’t have had the hose on hand, and it would have taken me so much longer to fight the fire.”
SCDF firefighters arrived in less than 10 minutes after he made the call, and by then, 16 condo units had been evacuated.
The fire, meanwhile, had been completely extinguished.
Mr Toh grew up in the Cashew estate and as the chairman of the condo management corporation strata title managing body, he has good ties with his neighbours. He said: “I just didn’t want anyone to get hurt, I didn’t want anyone to die.”
Mr Toh said that since he was young, he has always had a passion to help others in any way that he can.
He added: “I always think that if I don’t do it, who else will?
“If I have the capability and the capacity to help, it is a must for me to give back.”
