Woman distressed, confused by shutters triggered by fire alarm at lunchtime in Northpoint City

It must have been disconcerting.

A woman in Northpoint City was distressed and confused to find the fire shutters down on Monday (May 22) at around 1.15pm.

Stomper May said that all the exits and escalators were closed in the Yishun mall.

"We were distressed and wondering how we were going to eat lunch," said the Stomper who was with her colleagues.

"At first, we thought only one exit was closed maybe for renovation, but to our shock, all three exits we usually take at the bus interchange were closed."

In response to a Stomp query, Northpoint City said: "The fire shutters were automatically activated once the fire alarm was triggered. However, we checked and found it to be a false alarm."

"It was very shocking to see the entire second floor blocked off that we were unable to even see it," recounted the Stomper. "I think it would be scary if you were on top and could not come down.

"I saw some people just standing by the shutters waiting for them to open.

"We were slightly worried that it was a bomb threat or a real fire, but since there was no announcement or anything, we just went on with our lunch plans.

"It was very confusing why there were no security guards or signage posted anywhere indicating it wasn’t a planned shuttering of the mall, but we didn’t panic since the first floor was accessible and our lunch choice, Guzman y Gomez Mexican Kitchen, was open with no sign of any issues."

Fortunately for the Stomper, the shutters were reopened by the time they finished their lunch and they could leave.

Stomp understands that the Singapore Civil Defence Force did not receive reports of any incident at Northpoint City at the time.

Fire Curtain had been activated at Fraser NorthPoint City. Waiting for the facility and security to override the system. pic.twitter.com/NxaKwlkxik

— Richard Jang (@richardjang) May 22, 2023