Fire at Kranji warehouse extinguished after 4 days

SINGAPORE: A fire that broke out at a Kranji warehouse on Wednesday (Feb 19) has been extinguished after four days, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said on Sunday. 

The blaze, which involved waste materials, started on Wednesday morning at 11 Kranji Crescent – the address occupied by recycling and waste management firm Wah & Hua.

It was largely extinguished as of Wednesday night but firefighting operations continued as some deep-seated pockets of fire remained. 

In a Facebook post on Sunday, SCDF said it had worked “round-the-clock” over the past four days to douse the remaining pockets of fire in the waste heaps. 

“SCDF is scaling down our resources. As a precautionary measure, a fire engine and crew will remain at the premises to watch over the area that was affected by the fire," it said.

“SCDF will also progressively hand over the site to the premises owner for their recovery operations."

On Wednesday, smoke from the blaze could be seen from areas such as Jurong East, Bukit Panjang, Woodlands and the Causeway.

When CNA arrived at the scene at 2.45pm, more than seven fire engines and at least two ambulances were at the site. Another fire engine arrived less than an hour later. 

Workers from some buildings near the warehouse were told to vacate. One person was taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and burn injuries.
 

This was the fourth fire at the warehouse in seven years. The previous fires at the facility were in 2018, 2023 and 2024.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) told CNA on Thursday that it was investigating the incident with SCDF. 

"Whether or not action will be taken will depend on the outcome of the investigation," it said.

It added that it would work with the relevant agencies to update guidelines on the safe management of waste materials if there were new findings from this incident.

Wah & Hua did not respond to CNA’s earlier requests for comment.