Residents put out fire at Boon Lay Drive involving power-assisted bike

SINGAPORE — Yet another fire related to a power-assisted bicycle (PAB) has been reported, this time at Blk 191 Boon Lay Drive. 

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said on Saturday (July 27) that it responded to a fire on the first floor of the block at 12:05 p.m.

“The fire involved a PAB outside a residential unit and was extinguished by members of the public with buckets of water prior to SCDF’s arrival,” it added.

Around 20 people were evacuated from the block but there were no reported injuries as a result of the fire, the SCDF said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Photos of the aftermath of the fire, posted by residents on Facebook, show a charred wall next to a PAB that had been plugged into an electric socket outside a ground-floor home. 

This latest fire comes just a day after the SCDF said that the number of reported fires involving PABs and personal mobility devices (PMDs) has more than doubled in the first half of 2019, compared to the same period last year.

There have been 54 reported fires involving such mobility devices from January to June this year, it said.

On Monday, one adult and three children were rescued and dozens more nearby residents had to be evacuated after a fire engulfed an entire Housing and Development Board flat in Ang Mo Kio.

The SCDF said preliminary investigations indicate that the fire originated from a PMD in the flat’s kitchen.

The next day, the Land Transport Authority said it was considering bringing forward the end-2020 deadline for all motorised PMDs to meet fire safety standards, in light of the spate of fires related to the charging of non-UL2272-certified devices.