Singapore: 2 Hospitalized After Altar Catches Fire Outside Balestier Road HDB Flat

Two people were rushed to hospital after an altar caught fire at a Housing Board (HDB) block off Balestier Road on Saturday, August 23.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that it was informed about the fire at Block 112 McNair Road at around 4 am. SCDF added involved a shelf outside a unit on the 10th floor.

According to SCDF, the residents had already extinguished the fire with buckets of water and a dry powder extinguisher before the officers arrived at the scene.

One person was taken to Singapore General Hospital, while another was sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

Shawn Loh, the Jalan Besar GRC MP, commended the block’s residents for their bravery and alertness, stating that some went door to door to wake their neighbors and persuade them to leave.

On Saturday, Loh shared a Facebook post at about 11 am saying, “When I went down this morning, many were in good spirits. One said it was a ‘blessing to have good neighbours who look out for another’.”

“We will focus on restoring power to the remaining half of the block. This is expected to be completed by this evening,” he added.

However, the total number of households affected by the outage is not clear.

Loh said that the Jalan Besar Town Council and Residents Network are at the scene to provide assistance to residents who need it.

The SCDF said that the cause of fire is still under investigation.