SCDF assessing measures for fires in homes with clutter

An assessment is under way to see if more measures are required for fires involving clutter in homes, after the incident last week when flames reignited in a ninth-storey flat in Jurong East, a day after a blaze there killed a man.

The assessment is part of the post-fire incident review, said the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) yesterday. Any new measures would have to take into account the need to keep the scene as intact as possible for investigation.

"Rekindled fires are uncommon. Notwithstanding this, the firefighting and damping down operation for this incident was very challenging as the entire unit contained a large volume of debris that was closely packed together from wall to wall," said an SCDF spokesman.

"The safety of residents is of paramount importance for SCDF. As part of the post-fire incident review, SCDF will assess if additional measures are needed for similar fire incidents in the future while keeping the scene as intact as possible for fire investigation."

A 48-year-old man died in the fire in the flat at Block 236 Jurong East Street 21 last Tuesday.

SCDF firefighters had to force their way into the smoke-filled unit to fight the blaze, which took about five hours to extinguish.

The SCDF was alerted to the second fire in the flat at about 5am last Wednesday, and a fire in the master bedroom was extinguished using a water jet. There were no reported injuries from the second fire.

A neighbour said residents of the flat that caught fire had a habit of keeping items like household appliances in the common corridor.

The SCDF spokesman said yesterday: "Following the fire incident on Aug 16, 2022, SCDF conducted an extensive damping down operation within the unit for about eight hours after the fire was extinguished. A damping down operation of this duration was assessed to be necessary while balancing the need to preserve the scene for fire investigation.

"Throughout the damping down, two thermal imaging cameras were used to search for heat spots and guide the firefighters to target the water jets at the affected areas. This strategy was necessary to avoid causing additional damage due to the excessive use of water, which would also affect fire investigation.

"SCDF firefighters and fire investigators continued to work together, and around 5pm, the thermal imaging cameras showed that the temperature of the debris had reached normal ambient temperature levels and no heat spots were detected.

"The firefighters then returned to their respective units to replenish and prepare themselves for response to other emergencies."

The fire investigators left the flat at about 8pm that day, intending to resume their work the next morning. The SCDF spokesman said that when the investigators left the unit, there was no sign of smoke or fire.

"The cause of the (second) fire was likely due to deep-seated embers that were not detected by the thermal imaging cameras," the spokesman added.

SCDF has since worked closely with the town council on the removal of debris from the unit and investigations are ongoing.