In recent years, several fire accidents took place in Singapore which includes major industrial areas as well as hospitals. But the firefighters at Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) controlled every situation to ensure the safety of nearby residents.
Recent fire accidents
- After a fire broke out at one of the Mount Elizabeth Hospital's administrative offices in Orchard, SCDF firefighters took control over the area and secured the hospital.
- In June this year, an industrial area in Jurong triggered loud explosions and it continued for at least two hours which caused injuries to two people while one man was killed. 120 SCDF firefighters extinguished the massive blazes. They said this was the largest LPG fire accident that took place at 43 Jalan Buroh.
- In 2018, another fire accident took place in an industrial area at Pioneer Road.
- Singapore firefighters successfully extinguished another major industrial fire accident at a multi-material recycling and waste management company in Kranji on March 22, 2018.
Tuas fire accident
The SCDF said almost 140 firefighters and 34 emergency vehicles were deployed to control the raging fire at a building in Tuas Crescent on Wednesday morning. The officials at SCDF were alerted about the accident case which took place at 48 Tuas Crescent, at around 6 am.
The incident happened at the location where a toxic industrial waste collector, called Unifine Star Petrochemical is situated. The fire broke out at the building with waste materials such as recycled oil and solvents while the flames spread to nearby drains sometime later. SCDF mentioned that the affected area was about the size of a football field.
In addition, SCDF said during the operation there were multiple explosions from metal drums storing flammable industrial liquids. More than 100 firefighters battled against the blaze with eight water jets and used an unnamed aerial vehicle to monitor the incident. However, the officials stated that the fire was taken under control at around 10 am on Wednesday morning. SCDF is currently investigating the fire accident case to understand the reason behind it.
The firefighters and the battle
SCDF said that their firefighters faced intense heat while preventing the blaze from spreading to the other nearby storage tanks and premises. They also used foam to cover the surfaces of flammable liquids, which turned out as one of the more effective firefighting strategies. SCDF also added that as of now no injuries were reported. But they also advised the members of the public to stay away from the area.
The pictures and videos, uploaded on social media showed plumes of thick black smoke rising from the area.
