Fire breaks out in 3-storey East Coast house, 35 evacuated

A fire broke out in a semi-detached house along East Coast Road on Sunday (Jan 5) and 35 people were evacuated as a result.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post on the same day that it was alerted to a fire at the three-storey house at 305 East Coast Road at 12.45am.

Upon arriving at the scene, firefighters from the Kallang and Paya Lebar Fire Stations saw that flames had engulfed the first floor of the vacated house and were spreading to the upper floors.

They immediately conducted forcible entry into the house, using two water jets to contain the fire, SCDF added.

SCDF also deployed a combined platform ladder to conduct aerial firefighting. The fire was fully extinguished at around 3am.

As a result of the fire, the upper floors of the house sustained smoke and burn damage, and an adjacent unit was also partially affected.

About 35 residents from neighbouring units were evacuated as a precautionary measure. There were no reported injuries, said SCDF.

Amanda Lee, a resident who had been evacuated during the incident, expressed her gratitude in a comment under SCDF's Facebook post: "I want to say a big thank you to our unsung heroes, they were so brave and so efficient at putting out the fire. It was a raging one.

"On top of that, we want to say a big thank you to the good samaritans who shouted and made noise so that my family [woke up] and rushed out. If we didn’t, the outcome would have been so different."

"Lastly to the police, paramedics (men and women) thank you for securing the scene and ensuring our safety. The residents of East Coast are so grateful. We pray no one was injured."

The cause of the fire is being investigated, SCDF added in its Facebook post.

There was an 8.6 per cent increase in fires in 2023, with 1,954 cases in total, as compared to 1,799 cases in 2022, reported The Straits Times.

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com