Fire in Marina East covers area the size of two football fields

About 50 firefighters and 12 emergency vehicles were deployed to fight the fire, which was brought under control at 10.30pm.
About 50 firefighters and 12 emergency vehicles were deployed to fight the fire, which was brought under control at 10.30pm. PHOTO: COURTESY OF ANIQ RAYYAN

A large fire broke out near East Coast Park last night, affecting an area the size of two football fields.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it responded to a vegetation fire near Marina East Drive that was "approximately the size of two football fields" at about 8.50pm.

About 50 firefighters and 12 emergency vehicles were deployed, the SCDF said in a Facebook post. It surrounded the fire with seven water jets and brought it under control at 10.30pm.

There are no reported injuries, said the SCDF.

Last night's fire followed at least two vegetation fires the day before.

One, in the Tengah area, was about the size of 10 football fields, according to citizen journalism site Stomp. Another along Pang Sua Canal was about the size of one football field.

Both blazes were extinguished using two water jets.

Back in March, more than 50 firefighters eventually won a 19-hour battle against a vegetation fire near Lim Chu Kang Chinese Cemetery. Although the area was not as large as the one the fire struck last night, the SCDF said at the time that the fire was slow burning and deep seated and weather conditions were windy.

That blaze had involved piles of timber waste and was about the size of one football field.

Annual statistics released by the SCDF in February noted a sharp jump in vegetation fires last year.

There were 588 such fires last year, an increase of nearly 60 per cent from 368 in 2017.

This was largely due to the dry weather in February last year, which saw 213 vegetation fires alone. There were only 17 during the same period in 2017, said the SCDF.

The National Environment Agency's Meteorological Service Singapore said earlier this month that it forecasts drier-than-normal weather conditions here and in the surrounding region in the coming weeks, following a record dry July.

Drier weather can be expected from this month to October.

Joanna Seow

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 13, 2019, with the headline Fire in Marina East covers area the size of two football fields. Subscribe