Two charging e-scooters cause blaze at two separate HDB flats

Photo: SCDF / Facebook
Photo: SCDF / Facebook

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) handled not one, but two similar cases of electric scooters bursting into flames and razing their owners’ flats over the past couple of days.

The first case took place on Tuesday at Block 260, Yishun Street 22, where a man suffered burns to 45 percent of his body after his e-scooter exploded in his room, The Straits Times reported. Ridhwan Ithnin, 23, had no way to escape from the room as flames blocked his doorway, and had to be saved by his neighbor when he climbed out onto the window ledge of the 10th-floor unit.

His brother, Kamil Ithnin, noted to the paper that Ridhwan had charged the e-scooter for about six hours before it exploded. The incident also landed Kamil’s father and sister-in-law in hospital for smoke inhalation; Ridhwan remains in intensive care unit with second-degree burns.

“I’ve warned my family never to buy another one again,” Kamil said to ST.

The following day, SCDF personnel responded to another similar case, this time at Block 548 along Pasir Ris Street 51. A charging e-scooter caught fire, burning down the contents of a balcony yesterday morning — but no one was injured, fortunately.

SCDF added that the popularity of personal mobility devices (PMDs) in recent years has also resulted in a spike in fire incidents involving them, with 31 cases handled from January to September this year. It’s a big increase from the 19 cases over the same period last year, and SCDF has since issued some fire safety tips about charging PMDs.



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