Faulty hose reel certified as working 2 weeks before fire: Town council

The Jurong-Clementi Town Council is investigating the reasons for a lack of water supply to a hose reel at Block 210A Bukit Batok Street 21, despite an appointed contractor certifying the 64 hose reels at the block to be in working condition just two weeks earlier.

Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) firefighters trying to douse a fire on Nov 1 in a 13th-floor unit had to use water from their emergency vehicles because there was no water coming from a hose reel.

The early morning fire left three people injured.

Mr Ho Thian Poh, Jurong-Clementi Town Council's general manager, told The Straits Times yesterday: "(The hose reels) last underwent maintenance and testing by the appointed contractor on Oct 14, and were certified to be in working condition.

"However, we accept the SCDF's finding that the hose in question was not working on the day of the fire. We have been investigating why this was so, and will take appropriate actions once (the investigations are) concluded."

The town council did not name the contractor.

SCDF said in a statement last Friday that firefighters found a few hose reel cabinets locked, and when they broke one of the padlocks, they found the hose reel was not working.

In the statement, SCDF said: "Town councils are responsible for the maintenance and proper functioning of their estates' fire safety measures."

During the fire, rescuers employed a 60m ladder to rescue a man in his 60s and another man in his 30s from a ledge outside the flat's kitchen window. A woman in her 60s was rescued from a toilet in the unit.

The Straits Times understands that the woman is in intensive care, while one of the two men is in stable condition in a general ward.

The third victim has been discharged.

After the fire was extinguished, SCDF inspected the block's fire hose reels with representatives from the town council.

The town council was issued with Fire Hazard Abatement Notices for padlocking the cabinets as well as the lack of water supply in one of the hose reels.

The notices are warnings that require town councils to fix non-compliance issues.

If the same non-compliance issues persist during a re-inspection, the town council may receive a notice of a composition fine of up to $5,000, or may face prosecution.

SCDF said it conducted re-inspections of the affected hose reels at Block 210A over the course of the week of the fire and verified that the fire hose reels were accessible and in working order.

"SCDF takes a serious view of fire safety and will not hesitate to take action against any non-compliance with fire safety requirements," it added in the statement last Friday.