A flat in Serangoon North suddenly caught fire on Tuesday (September 16) night, believed to be caused by a power fault. The flames spread to the bedroom mattress, and a quick-thinking son rushed to save his paralysed mother, dragging her to safety and pulling the burning mattress outside to stop the fire from destroying their home.
The blaze happened around 8pm at Block 502, Serangoon North Avenue 4.
When Shin Min Daily News reporters visited at about 10pm, residents had already been allowed to return to their homes. But the corridor outside the affected unit was badly damaged, and the electricity supply to the unit was cut off.
One neighbour, Ms Chen, 48, said she was in the living room when her daughter pointed out thick smoke coming from a nearby unit.
“When I went out to check, the corridor was already filled with smoke. The smoke kept getting heavier, so we decided to go downstairs and wait there for about an hour,” she said.
Neighbours later shared that the unit was home to a paralysed woman who had been badly injured years ago when a tree trunk fell on her.
On Wednesday (September 17) morning, reporters returned and met the woman’s son, 33-year-old Mr Wang. He said his mother, Ms Wang Shuxiang (transliteration), was preparing to soak her feet that evening using a heated foot spa tub. After heating the water, she switched the power off. Not long after, the fire broke out.
He said burning items had fallen onto the mattress. He quickly helped his mother hide in the study room before working with a female tenant to drag the mattress out to the corridor.
“I later followed my mother to the hospital. By the time I got home at around 2am, the main gate was locked, so I stayed downstairs overnight,” he recalled.
Mr Wang said his mother only experienced slight discomfort in her heart but was otherwise safe. His father is rushing back from Malaysia.
By Wednesday morning, several workers were already carrying out repairs. The unit’s two female tenants also came back to clean up.
Photos released by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) showed that almost everything in the bedroom was destroyed. The burnt mattress springs were still visible on the ground.
According to SCDF, three people living in the unit had evacuated before SCDF’s arrival. They were assessed for smoke inhalation and conveyed to Singapore General Hospital (SGH). One of them also sustained minor burn injuries. In addition, a person from a neighbouring unit was assessed for smoke inhalation and conveyed to SGH.
