Fire breaks out in adjoining pubs The Penny Black and Harry's at Boat Quay on same day

The fire broke out in the second-floor kitchen of English pub The Penny Black. ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG
The fire broke out in the second-floor kitchen of English pub The Penny Black. PHOTO: SCDF/FACEBOOK
A fire engine parked at the back of the pub. ST PHOTO JOYCE FANG
Plumes of smoke rising from the fire. PHOTO: @RABIAHBEEVI/TWITTER

SINGAPORE - Fires broke out in two pubs located next to each other at Boat Quay on Thursday (July 28) morning. There were no injuries reported in either incident.

The first fire, at English pub The Penny Black located at 27 Boat Quay, involved the contents of a kitchen on the second floor at around 9.50am.

A photo posted on Twitter by user @rabiahbeevi at 10.12am showed plumes of smoke rising from the vicinity of the blaze.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post at 10.43am that the fire was extinguished a water jet.

It had dispatched a fire engine, two red rhinos, two fire bikes, a support vehicle and an ambulance to the scene.

Mr Bjorn Seegers, a director at Muddy Murphy Holdings which runs The Penny Black, told The Straits Times a deep fryer in the kitchen suffered a mechanical fault, which caused the oil to catch fire.

Staff in the pub called SCDF, and the fire was put out in 20 minutes.

There was minimal damage - mostly to the ceiling board and kitchen equipment - and the pub would open for business, although it would not be serving food, Mr Seegars said.

Fire at Harry's Bar next door

Harry's Bar at 28 Boat Quay also fell victim to a fire, which SCDF said in a Facebook post occurred at around 11.45am.

A fire engine, two red rhinos and three support vehicles were dispatched.

"The fire involved deep seated burning of an internal duct within the void (attic crawl space) of the roof," the post said.

"Two water jets and an aerial monitor were used to contain the fire. As a precautionary measure, several patrons of an adjoining restaurant were evacuated by SCDF personnel."

SCDF is investigating the cause of both fires.

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