Fire breaks out at dance studio next to Jalan Besar Town Council in Geylang Bahru
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it was alerted to a fire at 70A Geylang Bahru on Jul 28, 2021. (Photo: Facebook/Singapore Civil Defence Force)
SINGAPORE: A fire broke out at a dance studio next to Jalan Besar Town Council's main office in Geylang Bahru early on Wednesday (Jul 28) morning.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to a fire at 70A Geylang Bahru at about 6.35am.
Upon arrival, the fire was found "well-alight on the second floor of a two-storey premises", said SCDF on a Facebook post.
The fire involved the contents of the dance studio, said SCDF.
The Town Council building at 70 Geylang Bahru is "generally unaffected", said SCDF. That is the address of Jalan Besar Town Council.
In a statement, Jalan Besar Town Council said there was no damage to its main office.
The town council decided to temporarily close its office on Wednesday in consideration of the health and safety of its staff and the residents.
Services to residents were not disrupted as its Potong Pasir and Chin Swee offices remained open during office hours, said Jalan Besar Town Council. Operations at its Geylang Bahru office will resume on Jul 29.
"The Town Council will be carrying out the necessary repairs to the common property at Block 70A once we are given the all-clear by the authorities to do so," it said.
Some of these repairs include rewiring and repainting of the common areas, as well as repairs to the damaged roof.
"We will also work with the authorities to render assistance to the affected tenants," it added.
In a Facebook post, the chairman of Jalan Besar Town Council, Dr Wan Rizal said no one was hurt in the fire.
"(We) will follow up to ensure tenants of the affected premise received the necessary assistance," he said.
SCDF said water jets were used around the premises to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading.
Once the fire was under control, firefighters donned breathing apparatus sets and proceeded to the second floor to locate the source of the fire.
"Firefighters had to exercise caution as roof tiles directly above them started collapsing," said SCDF.
About 40 firefighters and 11 emergency vehicles were deployed to the incident.
At the height of the operation, four water jets were deployed. The fire was extinguished in about one hour.
SCDF added that it is currently performing damping down operations, which involves applying water to wet burnt surfaces immediately after a fire is put out. This is to prevent any potential rekindling of fire from the "hot burnt surfaces".
