The fire had likely originated from a power-assisted bicycle battery that was charging in a bedroom. - PHOTO: SINGAPORE CIVIL DEFENCE FORCE/FACEBOOK
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): About 50 people were evacuated from their homes on Christmas Eve after a fire broke out in a Housing Board flat in Tampines.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said the fire had likely originated from a power-assisted bicycle (PAB) battery that was charging in a bedroom.
Firefighters from Tampines Fire Station and Changi Fire Station responded to the fire at Block 921 Tampines Street 91 at about 9.40pm, said SCDF in a Facebook post late on Dec 24.
Firefighters at the scene were met with black smoke coming out from a unit on the first floor. The fire in the unit’s bedroom was then extinguished with a water jet.
No one was home.
The roughly 50 residents were evacuated by SCDF and the police as a precautionary measure.
No ambulance assistance was required, added SCDF.
In order to avoid such fires, members of the public should not leave batteries or devices charging for a prolonged period or leave them charging unattended, said SCDF.
The public also should not purchase or use non-original batteries for their active mobility devices.
On Aug 23, more than 100 residents in Yishun were evacuated in two separate fires on the same day, likely caused by batteries in mobility devices. No injuries were reported for both fires.
According to an annual statistics report by SCDF released on Feb 21, fires involving active mobility devices (AMD) – including PABs – increased by 31 per cent to 55 cases in 2023, up from 42 fires in 2022.
The latest numbers reverse the trend in AMD fires, which had been steadily dropping from 2019 to 2022. - The Straits Times/ANN
