An adult and three children were rescued today after a fire caused by a personal mobility device — an e-scooter — broke out in the Ang Mo Kio flat next to theirs this afternoon, the second such incident in as many weeks.
The four had required firefighters’ help to escape safely as the blaze had spread to the corridor.
They were in an apartment on the fourth story of Block 224 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, according to the Singapore Civil Defence Force, which was alerted at about 3pm.
SCDF subsequently put out the blaze using a water jet, it said on Facebook. The fire also necessitated the evacuation of 60 people from the block.
“Preliminary investigations into the cause of the fire indicate it was from a Personal Mobility Device placed in the kitchen,” SCDF said in the post, which contained photos showing charred walls and an e-scooter right next to a sink and an electrical socket.
A video of the incident was also posted on YouTube and showed raging flames and thick plumes of black smoke rising from the unit and spreading to the floors above.
Firefighters could also be seen arriving at the scene as onlookers stood by.
This is the second fire incident caused by a personal mobility device to take place in a Singapore flat in just a week.
Last Wednesday, a man and woman were rescued after a fire caused by two electric scooters broke out at a flat in Bukit Batok.