Taxi catches fire near church, dinner guests at function evacuated: '2 loud booms were heard'

Wallace Woon
The Straits Times
July 9, 2023

A ComfortDelGro taxi caught fire outside a church in Serangoon Gardens on Saturday night.

A dinner function at the adjacent Trinity Methodist Church was taking place at the time and some 50 people, who were seated in its outdoor compound, including its driveway, were told to leave the area.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the fire at 8.50pm on Saturday.

The fire, which involved the engine compartment of a vehicle, was extinguished using three compressed air foam backpacks and a hosereel.

There were no reported injuries.

Mr Andrew Chong, 48, who works in the insurance industry, told The Straits Times that he was having dinner in the church compound when he saw smoke coming out of a taxi’s bonnet in the road beside the church.

He said that a taxi driver then came out of the cab, and that he appeared to be unharmed.

“The fire became bigger and two loud booms were heard. The two front tyres had exploded,” said Mr Chong, adding that police asked those in the vicinity to evacuate the area.

The SCDF said the cause of the fire is under investigation.