Some residents evacuated after fire breaks out in kitchen of Sengkang HDB flat; no one injured

SINGAPORE – Some residents were evacuated from an HDB block in Sengkang after a fire broke out in the kitchen of a flat in the early evening on Aug 18.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), who were alerted to the fire at Block 408B Fernvale Road in Sengkang at about 5pm, said the fire involved the contents of a kitchen in a flat on the sixth floor.

Upon arrival, SCDF officers had to force their way into the flat, which was unoccupied at the time of the incident.

The fire was extinguished with a water jet and no injuries were reported, SCDF said in response to queries.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Victor Lye, who serves the Buangkok-Fernvale South division, said in a Facebook post late on Aug 18 that he was alerted about the incident in the evening while on the way back to Singapore from a business trip in Kuala Lumpur.

“The SCDF call was made by a neighbour when the helper next door came knocking to ask for help... there was smoke coming from the unit one floor below.

“SCDF had to break into the unit where smoke was billowing out. No one was at home then. Households two floors above and one floor below the affected unit were evacuated. Luckily, no one was hurt apart from the damage confined to the kitchen.”

Residents of the flat that caught fire told Lye, who visited the unit, they believe an electrical short circuit at a power point in the kitchen had led to the fire.

A photo of the burnt kitchen on Facebook shows blackened walls and deformed utensils, with debris strewn across the flat’s kitchen counter and soot on the floor.

Lye said he went through an after-action review of the incident with the town council manager and Residents’ Network chairman.

“We noted the internal protocol for emergency management worked, but will tweak it to improve,” he said, while thanking the town council manager, cleaners and residents for their help during the incident.

The MP reminded the public to ensure that their family members and helpers know the SCDF emergency number and under what circumstances they are supposed to call for help.

“Good thing that, in this incident, the helper was able to alert a neighbour, who happened to be working from home,” Lye said.

The overall number of fires in Singapore rose 3 per cent to 2,050 in 2025. Of these, more than half (1,051) involved residential fires, according to SCDF’s annual statistics.

Unattended cooking and electrical fires – including faults in electrical wiring or overloaded sockets – remained the top two causes of home fires.