House on fire: Girl left in Toa Payoh flat alone heard crying for help

What was supposed to be a quick errand turned into a close shave for a mother after a fire broke out while one of her daughters was home alone.

The fire happened at Block 154 Toa Payoh Lorong 2 at 3.25pm yesterday (Sept 1), the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed.

The father, 56, who was not named, told Lianhe Wanbao that his wife had been cooking fried chicken while their elder daughter was having her meal.

In the midst of cooking, she realised that she had forgotten to buy something, he said.

She then rushed downstairs with their younger daughter in tow to run the errand.

"She said she came back upstairs in 10 minutes and didn't expect to see the kitchen on fire. It terrified her."

The girl was crying and shouting for help at the front door of the house, several neighbours said.

Upon seeing smoke billowing from the unit, they alerted the SCDF.

Fortunately, the girl's mother arrived in time to unlock the flat's gate and rescue her.

The elder daughter is about six or seven years old while the younger daughter looks to be around two or three, the neighbours told the Chinese evening daily.

The fire involved the contents of the kitchen and was extinguished with a compressed air foam backpack, SCDF said.

There were no reported injuries and investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing.

kkimberlylim@asiaone.com