66-year-old woman scrambles to fight fire at Depot Lane workshop

[Update May 10, 7.15pm]

The SCDF said in a Facebook post that they responded to a fire at Depot Lane at 10.15am today and upon arrival, their emergency responders found the fire raging in an industrial unit. 

"SCDF initially deployed two water jets as protective curtains to prevent the fire from spreading to the adjacent units. The fire was subsequently extinguished using two foam jets and one water jet," said the agency.

About 20 people from the affected premises self-evacuated before SCDF's arrival. 

The cause of the fire is under investigation, said SCDF.

After noticing that her neighbour's workshop at Depot Lane had caught fire this morning (May 10), a 66-year-old woman bravely grabbed a hose to try to extinguish the fire. 

Hadijah, who declined to give her full name, recounted to AsiaOne in Malay: "It (the hose) definitely won't be as big as that of a fire engine but at least I do something to help."

This woman was at her shop, Nur Nadirah Catering Service, located at Depot Lane Industrial Estate Block 4007 when she noticed the smell of smoke coming from her next-door neighbour's workshop. 

"I ran out and saw that it came from my next-door neighbour. That was when I shouted for someone to call SCDF," Hadijah described.

She then instructed her staff to turn off the gas cylinders in their shop while she moved her car and two lorries to a location away from the fire, to minimise the chances of an explosion happening, she said. 

"My shop is quite badly damaged but regardless, I'm so thankful to the firefighters for their selfless work," she said.

When AsiaOne was at the site this morning just before 11am, the fire was already put out and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel was seen conducting dampening down operations. 

Damping down refers to the application of water to wet burnt surfaces immediately after a fire is put out. This is to prevent any potential rekindle of fire from the hot burnt surfaces, said SCDF in a tweet previously. 

We understand that there were no injuries.

The workshop where the fire took place is a coffee roasting facility and workers there told AsiaOne that they were stirring the coffee beans in one of the machines when it caught fire.

AsiaOne has reached out to the police and SCDF for more information.

This is a developing story. Please check for more updates.

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amierul@asiaone.com