Fire breaks out at bak kwa shop, causing delivery delays two days before Chinese New Year

SINGAPORE: A fire broke out at a bak kwa shop along Dunlop Street in the Little India area on Sunday (Feb 15), disrupting the preparation of orders just two days before Chinese New Year.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to a fire at 30 Dunlop Street at about 11.40am.

That's the address of a shophouse where Century Bakkwa is located.

The fire involved the contents of a kitchen exhaust duct in a ground-floor unit, said SCDF, adding that the blaze was extinguished using a water jet and a hosereel.

One person was assessed for breathing difficulties, while another suffered minor injuries, said SCDF. Both declined to be taken to hospital.

The owner of Century Bakkwa, Ms Simbian Chua, told CNA that employees were grilling bak kwa over charcoal when flames ignited the exhaust system.

"So I came here, I told the fireman you have to remove the charcoal. Otherwise, the fire wouldn't stop because ... it's flammable," she said.

She earlier said in a social media post that there was 500kg of charcoal in the shop and that the fire "can’t seem to be put out". 

According to Ms Chua, a chef at the shop suffered burns to his hands.

Apologising to customers, Ms Chua said bak kwa orders due to be delivered on Sunday will be delayed for one to two days due to the fire.

She added that some angry customers have complained about the delays.

"They say I buy bak kwa for my boss, my boss hasn't received the bak kwa. Later, my boss don't give me a raise," she said. "So all our deliveries right, are like late for one to two days and everybody angry."

According to its social media posts, Century Bakkwa's orders are full for the Chinese New Year period.

An eyewitness told CNA that the fire started at about noon, and that SCDF put it out within five minutes of arriving.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, said SCDF.