10 people taken to hospital for smoke inhalation after fire breaks out at Yishun HDB block
Flames were seen from below Block 141 Yishun Ring Road on Jun 29, 2021. (Images: Screengrabs from Facebook video/Alex Ch Sow)
SINGAPORE: Ten people, including a police officer, were taken to Singapore General Hospital for smoke inhalation after a fire affected three floors of a Housing and Development Board (HDB) block in Yishun on Tuesday (Jun 29).
About 100 residents from the second to 10th floors of the affected block evacuated before firefighters arrived at the scene, said the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) in a Facebook post.
SCDF said it was alerted to a fire at Block 141 Yishun Ring Road at about 8.30am on Tuesday.
"Upon SCDF's arrival, thick smoke was emitting from units on the third, fourth and fifth floors," it said.
"SCDF firefighters wearing breathing apparatus sets proceeded into the units to conduct firefighting operations."
The fire involved the master bedrooms of flats on the third, fourth and fifth floors.
"The fire was confined within the master bedrooms, with smoke damage sustained throughout the three units," SCDF said.
The blaze was extinguished with three water jets. An additional water jet was also used from the exterior of the block to "suppress the fire which was leaping out from the bedroom windows", SCDF added.
Five off-duty SCDF officers who were in the area assisted with medical and firefighting operations, the force added.
In a video posted on Facebook by user Alex Ch Sow, flames and plumes of smoke could be seen coming from units on the lower levels of the block. Fire engines were also seen at the foot of the block.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, said SCDF.
