Food stalls destroyed by fire at Kim Keat Avenue coffee shop: 1 owner estimates $35,000 loss

A fire broke out at a coffee shop at Block 260 Kim Keat Avenue in Toa Payoh on Friday night (June 16), leaving at least three food stalls destroyed.

Stomper Wei Sien, who was at the scene at around 11pm, shared videos of the blaze and firefighting operations. The commotion had also drawn a large crowd of residents and onlookers.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the fire at about 11.15pm.

"Upon arrival, fire can be seen raging within a closed coffee shop on the first floor," wrote SCDF in a Facebook post.

"Equipped with breathing apparatus, SCDF firefighters from Bishan Fire Station entered the smoke-logged coffee shop to conduct firefighting."

SCDF extinguished the fire, which involved contents of several stalls inside the coffee shop, using two water jets. The Pumper Firefighting Machine was also deployed by SCDF for smoke ventilation.

No one was inside the coffee shop during the fire, but seven people from a shop unit opposite were evacuated by the police.

There were no reported injuries and the cause of fire is under investigation.

According to Lianhe Zaobao, the place was closed when the fire broke out. As the coffee shop has been in business for over 30 years, it is believed that old wiring had caused a short circuit and sparked the blaze.

Around three stalls were left destroyed after the incident, with one suffering particularly heavy losses.

Mr Balu, 56, who has been operating an Indian food stall at the coffee shop for over six years, said he had closed shop at around 9pm that night.

However, a regular customer suddenly called him two hours later to inform him that the coffee shop was on fire.

Mr Balu, who rushed down to the scene, recounted: "I saw firefighters putting out the fire and smoke billowing, but could not do anything except to wait anxiously."

Besides estimating losses of around $35,000, Mr Balu also expects investigations and renovations to take two to three months, leaving him helpless.