Fire breaks out in Toa Payoh flat, woman sent to SGH

Feb 11, 2008

Fire breaks out in Toa Payoh flat, woman sent to SGH

By Imelda Saad , Esther Tan , Tessa Wong

A FIRE broke out in a third floor unit of Block 111 Toa Payoh Lorong 1 on Monday, sending residents scurrying out from their flats and attracting a huge crowd of curious bystanders. The fire gutted the hall and one room in the flat. Soot from the blaze affected the second, third and fourth floors of the block. Smoke from the blaze blackened the second, third and fourth floors of the block. It was believed to have started around 4.30pm, witnesses told The Straits Times. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) arrived within two minutes of receiving the call. They brought along a fire engine, one Red Rhino, two fire bikes, one support appliance and one ambulance. Using two water jets, the firemen put out the fire within 15 minutes. The fire gutted the hall and one room in the three-room flat. Smoke from the blaze blackened the second, third and fourth floors of the block. Fifteen people were evacuated from the third and fourth floor units. A Chinese woman in her forties was wheeled out by the SCDF, said witnesses. She seemed to be in a state of shock and was sent to the Singapore General Hospital. Mr Adi Surya, 32, a software engineer with Citibank, who lives next door to the affected flat, said he rushed back from work when he received a call from his wife about the fire. To his relief, he found that his unit was not affected. Fifteen people were evacuated from the third and fourth floor units. He said a mother and daughter, who is in her 20s, live in the burnt unit. He described the daughter as 'weird'. 'She is always slamming the door and hitting the gas meter outside their flat, and frequently gets into a fight with her mother in the wee hour of the night,' said Mr Adi. Mrs B.S. Ling, a restaurant supervisor who lives in a fourth floor unit directly above the affected flat, also said that the occupants are 'very noisy' and often throw things around in their flat. She had just stepped out of the shower when she noticed black smoke coming from the window below her. She said: 'I thought someone had set rubbish on fire. But then I saw the smoke and got a huge fright. I called out to some policemen below and they came up and escorted me downstairs.' Miss Priya Mathialagan, a 21-year-old student who lives on the eighth floor, said she was watching TV when her mother alerted her to the fire. 'When I looked down from my flat, I saw thick, black smoke rising from the third floor,' she said, adding that she saw other neighbours running out of their flats and rushing downstairs. She did the same when her neighbour advised her to get out of her flat.