Fires involving active mobility devices up 21.8% in 2024: SCDF

SINGAPORE: The number of fires involving active mobility devices (AMDs) rose by 21.8 per cent in 2024, according to annual statistics released by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) on Thursday (Feb 13).

There were 67 cases last year, up from 55 in 2023.

Overall, SCDF responded to 1,990 fires in 2024, an increase of 1.8 per cent compared to 2023. Fires due to electrical origin and unattended cooking were the most common in homes. 

There were 80 fire injuries and five fatalities in 2024.

Fires involving AMDs, such as power-assisted bicycles, personal mobility devices and personal mobility aids remain a concern, especially in residential premises, said SCDF.

SCDF said it will continue to disseminate safety advisories on AMD fires to the public.

These include reminders not to charge batteries for a prolonged period or leave them charging unattended overnight, and to refrain from purchasing or using non-original batteries.

BREAKDOWN OF FIRES IN 2024

Of the 1,990 fires SCDF responded to last year, 968 were fires involving residential buildings - a slight decrease from 970 in 2023.

Fires due to unattended cooking made up the largest proportion of fires in residential buildings, with 335 cases in 2024, down from 384 in 2023.

For fires of electrical origin, there were 299 cases in 2024, up by 8.3 per cent from 2023.

"The majority of fires were caused by faults in electrical wiring or electrical appliances, or due to the overloading of electrical sockets," said SCDF.

AMDs were involved in 44 of the fires in residential premises, an increase of 25.7 per cent from 2023.

Meanwhile, there were 607 non-building fires in 2024, an increase of 4.7 per cent from 2023.

Of these, vehicle fires made up the majority with 220 cases. Only one fire involved an electric vehicle.

"The primary cause of vehicle fires in Singapore is due to ignition sources such as overheating and electrical faults within the engine compartment," said SCDF.

There were also 180 vegetation fires in 2024, up 35.3 per cent from 2023. Fires involving discarded items fell by 8.5 per cent to 97 in 2024.

Fires in non-residential buildings such as commercial, industrial and social premises went up by 2.7 per cent to 415 cases last year. 

SCDF said it will continue to work with the National Fire and Emergency Preparedness Council, building owners and fire safety managers to organise outreach programmes to "maintain a high level of fire-safety awareness among building occupants".

"Regular enforcement checks will also be conducted at these premises to ensure compliance with fire safety regulations," said SCDF.

DECREASE IN EMERGENCY CALLS IN 2024

SCDF responded to 245,279 Emergency Medical Services (EMS) calls in 2024 - a slight decrease of 0.6 per cent compared to the previous year.

Of these, 228,838 were emergency calls, 10,728 were non-emergency calls and 5,713 were false alarms.

Of the emergency calls, 79.5 per cent were medical-related, 16.3 per cent were trauma cases, and 4.2 per cent were road traffic accidents.

EMS calls involving seniors aged 65 and above comprised almost half of all EMS calls.

"While demand has alleviated slightly following a significant spike in 2022, we are observing a general upward trend over the past five years," said SCDF.

SCDF added that with the ageing population in Singapore, it expects the increase in demand to continue beyond 2025.

While non-emergency calls remained generally consistent, false alarm calls saw a decrease since 2021.

In 2024, there were 5,713 false alarm calls compared to 6,285 in 2023, a decrease SCDF partly attributed to its public education on the use of the 995-emergency hotline.

FIRE ENFORCEMENT CHECKS

SCDF conducted 15,075 fire safety enforcement checks in 2024, an increase of 0.2 per cent compared to the 15,044 it conducted in 2023.

It issued 1,061 notices of offence (NOOs) and 2,579 fire hazard abatement notices (FHANs) in 2024, both a decrease from 2023.

"The most common FHAN issued was due to the non-maintenance of firefighting equipment, which accounted for 25.9 per cent of all notices issued," said SCDF.

"The most common NOO issued was due to unauthorised change of use of premises, which accounted for 33.6 per cent of all NOOs issued."