No one hurt in fire at Ang Mo kio flat

Report by JADE TEO

jadeteo@sph.com.sg

She was on her way home from dinner with her mother when she saw fire and smoke pouring out of the kitchen window of a sixth-storey unit in her block.

Ms Josephine Koh, 50, who lives on the 10th storey of Block 348 at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, rushed home to close her windows.

She told The New Paper how the police were knocking on everyone’s doors to check if their units were affected by the smoke and if there was a need to evacuate anyone.

“I was so shocked. I have never seen this happen before,” she told TNP.

Ms Koh, who is self-employed, was so worried that she even knocked on her neighbours’ doors and warned them of the fire. One family was not at home but another was not aware of the fire. The neighbour was surprised and went down soon after.

The fire happened on Monday at about 6pm.

TNP went to the unit yesterday afternoon and found a man cleaning the living room. The ceiling and the top of the wall were blackened.

He said he was employed by a Mr Ang, who in turn told TNP he was a friend of the family, but declined further comment.

The worker said the fire probably originated from the utility room, which was next to the kitchen and bathroom. It then spread to the kitchen.

An eighth-storey resident who wanted to be known as Madam Lee, 71, said: “The smell from the smoke was so strong. And the soot even went into my kitchen.”

The housewife added that the family in the affected unit are a couple with two kids.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to the fire at 5.55pm.

The fire was extinguished with one water jet within 10 minutes, said SCDF. There were no reported injuries and no evacuation was required.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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