MYSTERY FLAMES IN PASIR RIS
May 02, 2007
WITHIN minutes, three fires broke out along the corridors on different floors of a block of flats at Pasir Ris.
And even before residents could put out the flames which damaged clothes and other household items left outside the flats, a fourth fire broke out at nearby block.
It all happened last Monday morning.
Mr Vasie Ramasamy, 44, was sleeping on the living room floor when he saw smoke coming through his flat's front door.
Mr Vasie, who is unemployed, lives on the fourth floor of Block 189 Pasir Ris Street 12.
He lives there with his wife, two young children, his mother and an uncle.
RUSHED OUT OF FLAT
Mr Vasie said: 'I looked through the peep hole of the front door and saw a fire outside my flat. I quickly woke everyone up and rushed out of the flat.'
More than 20 pairs of shoes went up in smoke when a shoe rack next to the door caught fire.
The wall next to the flat's door was also charred.
Firefighters put out the fire after receiving an emergency call at 1.40am, an Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) spokesman said.
The SCDF also put out fires that broke out on the second and third floors of Block 189. The flames consumed clothes that were left to dry in the common corridor areas.
At Block 190, MadamAzarina Zakaria, 39, was pouring buckets of water outside her flat to put out a fire.
She lives in a four-room flat in Block 190 Pasir Ris Street 12 with her 50-year-old husband and seven children who are between 2 and 20 years old.
Madam Azarina, a housewife, said: 'I was inside the flat when I heard crackling sounds.
'I grabbed a pail of water which I placed outside to water my plants to try and put out the flames.
'We used about five buckets before the fire was put out.'
A baby pram worth over $100 and a cane chair were destroyed. The wall outside her house, as well as her living room window, were damaged too.
'My whole family just ran out of the flat and stood outside as my husband and I tried to put out the fire, which they eventually did.'
The SCDF confirmed the incidents and is investigating.