Workers’ Party (WP) member and former Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Gerald Giam on Tue (29 Oct) visited a resident of a rental block in Fengshan, whose flat was engulfed by a fire linked to personal mobility devices (PMD) last weekend.
Giam said that the resident’s “teenage son barely escaped with his life” and that he was “freed from the flat by heroic neighbours and the SCDF”.
“Thankfully no one was badly injured, but their household belongings were completely destroyed.
“Fortunately HDB was able to re-assign her a nearby unit to move into,” Giam added.
Giam also said that WP has assessed the resident’s “needs for furniture and household appliances”, and “will be working with The WP Community Fund and other charities to assist them with these essential items”.
WP Community Fund is a charity fund founded by WP to run community programmes like financial aid, food distribution and health screenings.
Two separate fires related to PMD also broke out last weekend in Bedok and Geylang, which resulted in 40 people evacuating the Bedok flat and one being rushed to Singapore General Hospital (SGH) for smoke inhalation. One person was sent to SGH for burn injuries after the Geylang incident.
“Preliminary investigations into the cause of both fires indicate that they were of electrical origin from PMDs which were charging at the time of the fires,” added SCDF.
SCDF responded to the Bedok incident, which took at a 7th floor unit at Block 106 Bedok North Ave 4, at about 11.15am.
“The fire, which involved the contents of a kitchen, was extinguished by SCDF using one water jet,” said SCF on Sun (27 Oct).
SCDF responded to the Geylang incident, which took place at an e-scooter shop at No. 33 Lorong 19 Geylang, at around 11.55 am.
“The fire, which involved the contents of a storage room within the e-scooter shop, was extinguished by SCDF using one water jet,” SCDF added.
SCDF encouraged the public to make use of the information available in its joint infographic with the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
Members of the public wishing to purchase a PMD are encouraged to examine the PMD for Certification Marks, and to refer to LTA’s website for more information on UL2272 certification and an indicative list of UL2272 certified devices available in Singapore.
The Authority has also urgeed all owners of non-UL2272 certified PMDs to dispose of their devices at designated disposal points as soon as possible. More information on PMD disposal is available here.
