Fire breaks out at Telok Blangah coffee shop, two taken to hospital
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SINGAPORE – About 80 people living in a Telok Blangah HDB block had to be evacuated after a fire broke out at a coffee shop on Nov 29, with two needing to be taken to the hospital.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post that it was alerted to the fire at Block 61 Telok Blangah Heights at 11.10am.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, several stalls were on fire, with SCDF extinguishing the blaze using three water jets.
Seven people were assessed for smoke inhalation. One of them was taken to Singapore General Hospital and another to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, SCDF said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
When The Straits Times arrived at the scene at about 12.30pm, the fire was already put out, but many residents were still outside the block waiting to return to their homes.
Mr Andy Ng, 27, one of the block residents, said he heard shouts before he even saw the smoke. It was only after he looked out of his kitchen window that he saw the blaze and feared it would spread quickly.
He immediately left his fourth-storey unit with his grandmother, although his uncle had to stay behind in the unit with his grandfather, who has mobility issues.
Another resident who wanted to be known only by her initials, said “visibility was zero” when she left her third-storey unit.
Ms C. N., 30, said she grabbed her two cats and wore two surgical masks, with the air feeling very thick and hurting her eyes.
“The important thing was to tell myself to stay calm, and (for) my cats and my family to get out first.”
Ms C. N. with her cats Dang Dang and Mako. After the fire broke out, she grabbed her pets and left her Telok Blangah third-storey unit.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
A video posted by a Facebook user at about 11.30am showed the coffee shop up in flames as thick plumes of smoke rose upwards.
In its annual statistics report released on Feb 13, SCDF said the number of fires had increased
There were 1,990 blazes in 2024, up from 1,954 in 2023, with the increase attributed to more fires happening at commercial, social and communal premises – which include community centres and religious sites.
The number of fire-related deaths had also increased from three in 2023 to five in 2024.
