Large fire breaks out in Little India; 40 firefighters, 12 vehicles deployed
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said that 12 emergency vehicles and about 40 firefighters were deployed to fight a fire that broke out at 14 Dickson Road.
SINGAPORE — A fire broke out in Little India on Thursday (May 16) afternoon, with witnesses reporting a 40m-high column of smoke rising from a shophouse in the area.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post that it responded to a fire at 14 Dickson Road at about 2.50pm.
It deployed 12 emergency vehicles and about 40 firefighters to the scene. There were no reported injuries, it said, adding that the fire involved the contents of a two-storey shophouse.
Photos and videos of black smoke coming from a building in the area were posted on social media. TODAY understands that the fire occurred at a second-hand goods shop.
SCDF said the fire was extinguished at about 4.10pm.
As at 5pm, segments of Dickson Road and Perak Road were seen cordoned off by the police.
Ms Shalani Devi, 20, an intern at literary non-profit group Singlit Station, said that she was on the second floor of a building next to the site of the fire when she heard loud popping sounds that were like "mini-explosions".
She then heard shouts and police sirens, and thought that a fight had broken out at a nearby bar.
When she looked out of her window, she noticed that there was grey smoke outside, and many people standing across the street filming the scene with their phones.
When she went down to the first floor to check what was going on, a police officer approached her and told her to evacuate. She told TODAY that she believes the loud popping sound was from the tiles of the roof.
Mr Alagappan Velu, 33, an engineer, chanced upon the “very large fire” when he met his friend at the junction of Perak Road and Dickson Road at 2.55pm.
"There was a very large column of black smoke rising from the building, about 40 metres high," he said. "I saw about three people running out of the building that was on fire.”
Both Ms Shalani and Mr Velu said that they did not hear any fire alarms.
Mr Peter Lim, 52, a salesman, said: "I was sleeping on the second floor of a nearby building when my landlord ran up and shouted at me to evacuate."
"I quickly grabbed my dog, ran out and saw a huge fire at a nearby building. There was a lot of black smoke," he added. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY NICHOLAS KHONG
