About 150 people evacuated after fire breaks out at Teban Gardens HDB block

SINGAPORE – About 150 people were evacuated after a fire broke out at Block 34 Teban Gardens Road in Jurong on the afternoon of Feb 17.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the fire at about 4.20pm. When it arrived, the living room of an 11th-floor unit was on fire, it added.

Firefighters forced their way into the smoke-filled unit and extinguished the fire with a water jet, said SCDF.

“The fire was confined to the living room. No one was inside the unit at the time of the fire,” it added.

Residents were evacuated by the police and SCDF as a precautionary measure. No injuries were reported.

According to SCDF, preliminary investigations showed that the fire was likely electrical and originated in the living room.

SCDF reminded the public to take measures to prevent such fires.

Ms Cassandra Lee, an MP for West Coast-Jurong West GRC, said in a Facebook post on Feb 18 that SCDF had assessed the situation and deemed the surrounding units safe.

She added that HDB engineers have conducted structural checks and confirmed the building is structurally sound.

Temporary accommodation has been arranged for the affected family, she said.

“The family had preferred to stay with their family member... last night. But the family is scheduled to collect the keys to their temporary flat tomorrow. We are assisting the family with these arrangements.”

Ms Lee said in a Facebook post on Feb 17 that she noticed dark grey smoke coming from the Teban area while she was making house visits in Ayer Rajah.

Earlier in February, SCDF’s annual statistics showed the total number of fires rose by 3 per cent – from 1,990 in 2024 to 2,050 in 2025. Of these, 1,051 involved fires at residential buildings.

Unattended cooking and electrical fires – including faults in electrical wiring or overloaded sockets – remained the top two causes of home fires.