About 130 firefighters were dispatched to battle a blaze this morning at a Tuas industrial waste management facility.
It took about four hours for firefighters to bring flames ravaging a roughly football-field-sized area under control at 48 Tuas Crescent, fire operations director Daniel Seet told reporters on the ground.
Multiple explosions from metal drums storing flammable industrial liquids were heard during the operation, according to the Singapore Civil Defence Force, or SCDF.
No injuries were reported, but officials have yet to say whether any toxic compounds were released.
Fire personnel were alerted to the incident at around 6am, according to an SCDF statement, which said 130 firefighters, 34 emergency vehicles and an aerial drone were deployed to the scene.
Photos and videos posted online showed a raging fire sending dark and thick plumes of smoke into the air as firefighters attempted to put it out with water jets.
“The fire, which involved a premises dealing in industrial waste management including recycled oil and solvents, was raging and spreading along nearby drains,” SCDF’s statement read. Some of the chemicals had flown into nearby drains, Seet later told local media.
The cause of the fire is being investigated. The National Environment Agency and the PUB water agency are checking for any chemical pollution, according to Seet.
Eyewitnesses said the fire affected traffic flow in the area as well.
A video posted by Facebooker Rogger Yap showed trucks making a U-turn at a traffic junction in the vicinity.
“Huge Fire at Tuas Cres, traffic is not possible now,” Yap wrote.
Another clip showed a road near the scene of the fire occupied by firefighters.
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