SINGAPORE - Plumes of smoke emitting from a motorcycle fire at Woodlands Checkpoint caused alarm among some travellers crossing the Causeway on Wednesday evening (Aug 7).

"At about 7.37pm, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) responded to a vehicle fire at the Arrival Motorcycle zone of Woodlands Checkpoint," said its spokesman.

He added that the fire was put out before SCDF's arrival. It was doused by officers of the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority ( ICA) and a member of the public, using fire extinguishers.

No injuries were reported, the spokesman said.

Travellers at the checkpoint told The Straits Times the flames had "engulfed" a motorcycle and that "choking smoke" had filled a full section of the motorcycle area.

"I didn't know it was a motorbike that caught fire. I thought it was a car because the flames looked so much bigger. I was scared the flames would set the other vehicles on fire, too," said home-maker Joanna Lee, 29, who was going into Singapore from Johor Baru.

Meanwhile, student Christofer Koh, 23, who was riding a motorcycle, said the incident caused processing times at the checkpoint to "slow down to a crawl".

"I waited for about two hours to clear immigration in the motorcycle lane,'' he added.