Sembawang God of Wealth temple remains closed 'until further notice' after fire

SINGAPORE — The Sembawang God of Wealth Temple will remain closed until further notice after a blaze engulfed its premises on Friday (Sept 18) night.

“No one was hurt during this unfortunate incident,” a post on the temple’s Facebook page on Saturday read. “Investigations are still ongoing.”

It added that the temple’s God of Wealth Hall and Goddess of Mercy Hall remain intact and that they hope to reopen the temple "as soon as we can”.

"Thank you all for your concern and support," the post read.

Writing on Facebook on Saturday morning, Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung thanked the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) for putting out the fire and noted that it was fortunate no one was hurt and the fire did not spread to the residential block next to the temple.

Mr Ong, who is a Member of Parliament for Sembawang Group Representation Constituency, added that he and his fellow MP Lim Lim Wee Kiak visit the temple almost every Chinese New Year's eve, and it is "very popular amongst our residents".

"It is very sad and heartbreaking to see it being destroyed. We will be in touch with the temple management to better understand the extent of the damage and if there is anything we can do to restore the temple," Mr Ong wrote.

He added that he had spoken to the temple Chairman on Saturday morning.

"Miraculously, the deities were all unharmed and the management is arranging for a professional to assess the structural integrity of the building," Mr Ong added.

In a separate Facebook post, the temple clarified “some misinformation” regarding stray dogs at its premises.

Following the fire, posts on social media claimed that the dogs were kept in cages at the temple and died in the fire as they were unable to escape.

“Our temple has a total of seven stray dogs under our care,” the temple said. “We do not chain up our dogs and they are free to roam the temple compound during the night.”

Three of them died after they were trapped on the second floor when the fire broke out. The remaining four managed to escape and are safe, it added.

Four stray dogs housed at Sembawang God of Wealth Temple survived the fire.  Photo: Sembawang God of Wealth Temple / Facebook

“We had not originally released this information as we were still waiting (for) confirmation from the Singapore Civil Defence Force," said the temple. "We seek your understanding during this difficult (time)."

Nineteen emergency vehicles and about 60 firefighters were deployed to fight the fire, which  broke out on the first floor of the temple about 9.15pm on Friday night.

By the time firefighters arrived at the scene, the fire was spreading to the second floor, said the SCDF.

The blaze was confined to the first and second floor of the four-storey temple, and was extinguished close to midnight.

"SCDF firefighters were also deployed to a nearby elderly home to assess its condition and ensure the safety of its residents," the force said in a Facebook post. "As a safety precautionary measure, residents from the home were evacuated by the police." 

The Acacia Home is a welfare home for elderly destitute men.

During the evacuation, an elderly man from the home experienced breathlessness and was assessed by an SCDF paramedic. He was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, said SCDF. 

There were no other reported injuries and the residents returned to their rooms at about 11.45 pm.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. CNA

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