One dead, 50 evacuated after fire at Jurong East HDB flat
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The SCDF was alerted to the fire at Block 339 Jurong East Avenue 1 at 3.55am on Aug 16.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE CIVIL DEFENCE FORCE
SINGAPORE – A fire broke out in a Jurong East flat in the early hours of Aug 16, leaving one person dead, with 50 other people evacuated.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post that it was alerted to the fire at Block 339 Jurong East Avenue 1 at 3.55am.
When SCDF personnel arrived at the scene, black smoke was emitting from a unit on the third floor. The fire involved items in the unit’s living room.
The firefighters entered the unit by force and found an unresponsive man in the living room.
The police said the 67-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene by an SCDF paramedic. The police do not suspect foul play and investigations are ongoing.
A resident who wanted to be known only as Ms Theng, 40, told The Straits Times she ran out of her fourth-floor home in the wee hours after her neighbour from the third floor – the same level as the unit that caught fire – alerted her to the blaze. She said she heard about three small explosions before she left her flat, adding that the area around the flat that caught fire has been cordoned off.
Residents on the fifth, ninth and 12th floors said they slept through the incident and learnt about the fire only in the morning.
A resident on the 12th floor who wanted to be known only as Madam Tan, 70, said her husband believed the flat that caught fire was a rental unit, but the couple did not know the victim.
Jurong Central MP Xie Yao Quan, who was visiting the affected residents, said someone who lives on the fifth floor called the SCDF and alerted other neighbours.
In a Facebook post at about 7pm, Xie said he was deeply saddened by the 67-year-old man’s death.
“Neighbours remember him fondly as a kind, caring man. May he rest in peace,” he wrote.
He added that residents on the affected floor were shaken, but were otherwise safe and “doing fine”.
He also thanked the resident who went door to door to alert his neighbours about the fire and get them to evacuate. “His quick actions and bravery have saved lives. I am glad SCDF is arranging to recognise and commend his heroic deed and spirit. Our community owes him a debt of gratitude,” he said.
This is at least the fourth reported fatal fire involving a senior in an HDB flat since July 28.
A fire broke out in a flat at Block 39 Circuit Road on the morning of July 28 and killed a 70-year-old man.
On July 31, a fire in an eighth-floor flat at Block 309 Clementi Avenue 4 killed a 65-year-old man and injured two firefighters.
And on Aug 3, a blaze broke out in a fifth-floor unit at Block 684 Race Course Road, which saw five people aged between 55 and 88 taken to hospital. The 88-year-old man died on Aug 5.
