Vegetation fire near Lim Chu Kang cemetery put out by SCDF after 19-hour operation

A vegetation fire the size of a football field broke out near Lim Chu Kang Chinese Cemetery on Monday morning (Mar 4).

It was extinguished by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) after a 19-hour firefighting operation that lasted through the night.

In a statement posted on Facebook, the SCDF said this has been one of the longest SCDF operation involving vegetation fire in recent years.

Earlier on Monday, it said it responded to the fire at about 7.05am. The blaze involved piles of timber waste.

https://www.facebook.com/SCDFpage/posts/10155787228095583/

"Due to the slow burning, deep-seated fire, coupled with the abundance of nearby thick vegetation and windy conditions, the prolonged firefighting operations are... still ongoing," said the SCDF in its Facebook post at 8.23pm.

"As the nearest fire hydrants are about 2km away from the fire, eventually 25 firefighters from the Special Rescue Unit (SRU) had to manually lay hoses across that considerable distance to maintain a constant water supply for the fire mitigation. 

"Portable pumps were also set up at intermediate points to boost water pressure for effective firefighting."

A total of eight emergency vehicles and 52 firefighters were deployed, and three water jets were used to bring the fire under control.

An on-site rest area was set up for the firefighters to take turns to recuperate.

In an update at 9.38am, SCDF said damping down operations to prevent the fire from rekindling from the hot burnt surfaces were underway.

https://www.facebook.com/SCDFpage/posts/10155788351000583/

It also thanked the public for the outpouring of support, concern and well-wishes given to their frontline officers.

"Your kind words keep their fighting spirit high even when the going gets really tough," it said.