SINGAPORE: One person died and two others were injured after a massive fire broke out at a Jurong industrial area on Friday (Jun 21), said the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).
SCDF said it was alerted to the incident at 43 Jalan Buroh at about 5.10pm. The fire, which SCDF described as “raging and intense”, was brought under control at about 7.30pm.
The fire engulfed an LPG facility about the size of two football fields, said SCDF, adding that it involved “hundreds” of highly flammable LPG cylinders – the largest number the force has seen in a fire.
The fire spread rapidly as SCDF worked to contain its spread.
“Firefighters faced intense heat amidst exploding LPG cylinders while preventing the fire from spreading to larger LPG storage tanks nearby,” said SCDF in a Facebook post.
It added that a body was found at the scene by an SCDF paramedic.
Two workers suffered burn injuries and were taken to Singapore General Hospital.
A total of 35 emergency vehicles and about 120 firefighters were deployed.
“At the height of the firefighting operations, seven water jets, including an Unmanned Firefighting Machine, were used to mitigate the fire,” said SCDF.
When CNA went down to the scene at about 6pm, two men were seen sitting by the side of the road with injuries. One had bandages on his arm and knee. The other had bandages on his arm, back and the side of his head, and was later helped into a wheelchair by emergency responders.
SGSecure mobile app users with M1, StarHub and Singtel within the immediate vicinity of the fire received a message urging them to stay away from the affected area, said SCDF.
Videos sent to CNA show flames and clouds of thick smoke rising from the area. Residents reported hearing multiple sounds of explosions.
Photo of rising black smoke seen from Bukit Batok. (Photo: Jonan Gan)
Eyewitnesses said smoke from the fire could be seen from areas including Teban Gardens, Clementi, Cantonment Road and as far away as Bishan.
Smoke seen from an apartment in the Bishan area near Lornie Road.
CNA reader Carol Lee said she was picking her husband up at the building opposite the fire, and could feel the heat from where she was about 200m away.
“I saw the fire follow by an explosion sound a lot of times until can’t count. It was very scary. The smoke smelt like chemicals, not the normal smoke,” she said.
Another CNA reader, Muhammad Farihin, described what he saw as “balls of fire” from his apartment at Yung Kuang Road. “There were explosions too,” he added.
Lilliane Reyes was changing her toddler when she heard what she thought was “loud thunder”.
“I just thought that was just a very loud thunder then the baby said ‘ohh, what’s that?’ … Then when I stood up I saw big dark smoke.”
Michael Toh was travelling from Tuas Checkpoint towards the city when he saw the fire.
“There was thick black mushroom smoke skywards. Traffic slowed down due to the distraction and partially due to peak hours jam,” he said.
Smoke rising into the sky as seen from inside a train near Jurong East station. (Photo: Mrs Ong)
The cause of the fire is under investigation, said SCDF.
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