Fire breaks out at Tampines industrial building; workers and students nearby evacuated

SINGAPORE: A fire broke out at a three-storey industrial building in Tampines on Friday (May 9), sending dark plumes of smoke and ash into the sky and sparking evacuations from nearby workplaces and a school. 

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the incident at 18 Tampines Street 92 at 12.50pm, adding that it deployed five water jets, an aerial monitor from a combined platform ladder and two unmanned firefighting machines.

The fire involved textile items, SCDF said, adding that the structure of the premises was "assessed to be unstable".

"A person from the affected premises was assessed by an SCDF paramedic for a minor cut on his arm. The person declined to be sent to the hospital," it said in a Facebook update.

A photo on SCDF's Facebook page showed smoke billowing out of the windows of TC Homeplus, a company which distributes homeware and homelinen. 

Other videos and photos show thick black smoke rising from the location, which is near SAFRA Tampines and not far from Tampines Mall.

A TC Homeplus director, who only wanted to be known as Mr Yap, said staff members called to notify him of the fire at about 12.30pm.

There were about 45 workers in the building and the fire had already spread to the second floor, Mr Yap said, adding that the cause of the fire or which room it started in had yet to be determined.

Mr Yap, who was not at the scene, immediately told his staff to evacuate. The company's human resource department team also checked that all workers had safely left the premises. 

Workers initially tried to put out the blaze with fire extinguishers while others called for help.

However, they eventually evacuated when they realised it was too big to handle "and left it to the professionals", Mr Yap told CNA.

ASH, SOOT

A CNA reader who did not want to be named said he and his colleagues, who work opposite the burning building, were alerted to the fire after a meeting.

They were told to evacuate their office building at about 1.20pm, he added.

Videos taken by CNA reader Mr Umar Adam from Tampines Street 91 at 1.30pm showed firefighters in action.

The window frames of the building appeared to have melted, while the exterior of the building was covered in soot. 

Another CNA reader said she saw three fire engines and two ambulances rushing to the scene, and that the fire was still raging as of about 1.30pm. 

"Plenty of ash coming into the flats here because of wind direction," said Ms Caroline Bone, who saw the smoke from her flat at Simei Street 1.

Smoke could also be seen from Changi General Hospital along Simei Street 3 and Temasek Polytechnic at Tampines Avenue 1.

When CNA arrived at the scene at 1.55pm, vehicles were being diverted away from the road leading to TC Homeplus.

There was a police cordon on one side of the road, with more than 30 onlookers standing behind it, taking videos and chatting among themselves.

There was also a second police cordon on the left side of the building.

Children and staff from Middleton International School across from TC Homeplus were evacuated and seen gathering outside the main school building. 

The mother of a Middleton International School student told CNA that its principal had messaged parents and caregivers, telling them not to panic and that the children were safe.

Some parents had asked to pick their children up earlier, but the school denied that request, adding that their pick-up time would be from 3.30pm to 3.45pm as usual, the woman said.

A representative of the school told CNA that "students, staff, and campus remain completely safe" and that there was "absolutely no impact" on its operations.

At about 2.35pm, a man was seen sitting on a stretcher chair and surrounded by five SCDF officers. He smiled, laughed and spoke to the paramedics as they assessed him. 

Students eventually left the emergency assembly area within the school compound at about 3pm and returned to the main building.

Secondary school principal Adam Harbinson spoke to a group of more than 10 parents who were waiting outside the premises near the basketball courts.

Mr Harbinson said the school building remained safe and that parents will be updated on where children will be released from.

A woman said that she felt “very worried” when she first saw messages from other parents, but was assured by the constant updates from the school. 

Mr Toh, an employee of Evorich, which occupies the building next to TC Homeplus, said he had just returned from lunch with his colleagues at about 12.40pm when they saw the fire.

They immediately moved their cars out of the building and could see staff from TC Homeplus leaving from its main entrance.

While the fire has been put out, SCDF said in an update on Saturday that damping down operations are ongoing. This involves adding water to burnt surfaces to halt any rekindling of fire.