SINGAPORE - A fire broke out at a construction site for a Build-to-Order estate at Keat Hong Link Road on Thursday morning.

A spokesman said the SCDF received a call at 9.30am, and its firefighters reached the scene at 9.36am to see thick black smoke billowing from the three-storey dormitory near Choa Chu Kang Avenue 1.

Workers at the fire were already trying to extinguish the fire with fire extinguishers and water hoses, to no avail.

The SCDF firefighters battled the blaze with five water jets, and used an additional water jet with a combined platform ladder.

There were no civilian casualties, and workers were evacuated safely, said the SCDF.

The Sraits Times understands three male firefighters sustained injuries, and were sent conscious to National University Hospital (NUH). They suffered from chest pain, backache and a swollen foot respectively.

The SCDF had dispatched three fire engines, three Red Rhino vehicles, two fire bikes, six support vehicles and two ambulances to the construction site - a three 20 storey block HDB BTO estate due for completion in the first quarter of next year.

Construction worker Mr Alamgir Hossain, 27, had taken the MRT down from his work site at Jurong East to ensure his 22 year-old brother was fine.

"He lost his valuables in the fire - his Samsung phone, five hundred dollars and his work permit. But the most important is that he is still alive," said a relieved Mr Hossain.

70 year-old retiree Mr Tan Bee Kay spotted the blaze from afar. "I was taking a smoke in the carpark when I saw a huge mushroom-shaped smoke cloud at about 10.30am," he said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.