Fire breaks out at terrace houses at East Coast Road: One taken to hospital, about 20 evacuated

Submitted by Stomper Anonymous, Ken, Aviroop

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One person was taken to hospital and about 20 people were evacuated after a fire broke out at a terrace house at East Coast Road on Monday night (Jan 9).

Several Stompers alerted Stomp to the fire and shared photos and videos of the blaze.

One Stomper, who resides in the area told Stomp they could smell the smoke from their home.

"It was a very pungent and almost synthetic burning smell," the Stomper said. 

"The smell lasted for many hours even after fire was put out."

The Stomper then heard the sound of the fire trucks "pumping huge jets of water".

"It was quite scary to see the fire up close in person," they added.

"When I got there, immediately I was taken by the huge orange fire the size of the one or two houses.

"It was overwhelming.

"Some of the residents were also standing there watching their house burn down.

"It was very stark.

"I couldn't sleep last night with images of the big fire burning the houses.

"At one point, I saw three houses on fire at the same time, a full fire inside the houses and burning through the roof.

"I was impressed with the work of the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

"They were very professional and knew what they were doing to contain and bring down the fire.

"I watched them fight the fire more than an hour and already my throat was irritated."

The SCDF said in a statement on their Facebook post that they were alerted to a fire at 12S East Coast Road at about 11.50pm.

They said the fire was "well alight" and had affected four terrace house units: 12P, 12Q, 12R and 12S.

"SCDF firefighters immediately set up water jets to surround and contain the fire to the four units," the statement said.

"A Combined Platform Ladder was also deployed to conduct aerial firefighting and prevent the further spread of the fire.

"At the height of the operation, a total of six water jets were deployed."

The fire was extinguished at 1.50am on Jan 10.

As a result of the fire, two other adjacent terrace house units, 12N and 12T, also sustained varying degrees of burn damages.

SCDF said the police evacuated about 20 occupants from the affected units as well as neighbouring units as a precautionary measure.

One person was assessed by an SCDF paramedic for a minor burn injury and was taken to Singapore General Hospital.

Damping down operations are ongoing and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

[Final Update - Fire @ No.12S East Coast Road] At about 11:50 p.m. (9 Jan), SCDF was alerted to a fire at the...

Posted by Singapore Civil Defence Force on Monday, January 9, 2023

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