SINGAPORE: About 260 people, including senior citizens and children, were evacuated after a fire broke out at the Kampung Admiralty retirement complex on Wednesday (Dec 26).
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told Channel NewsAsia that they responded to a fire at 676 Woodlands Drive 71, where the integrated complex is located, at about 1pm.
“The fire involved an electrical device placed in a storeroom on the third floor of the building,” SCDF said. “Fire was extinguished by members of the public using dry powder extinguishers prior to SCDF’s arrival.”
There were no reported injuries and the cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to the SCDF.
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Screenshots from videos showing an evacuation at Kampung Admiralty on Dec 26, 2018. (Photos: Vivian Low)
The fire, which is said to have involved an electrical floor scrubber, had triggered the alarm in the building.
Housewife Vivian Low, 29, told Channel NewsAsia that she saw senior citizens, children from the childcare centre as well as staff from Kampung Admiralty’s medical centre and pharmacy, among those who were evacuated.
Ms Low, who was having her lunch there, said the evacuation of the elderly was “really fast”. She added that there were “quite a lot” of them.
Officially opened in May this year, Kampung Admiralty is an 11-storey integrated complex that houses 100 flats for the elderly, a two-storey medical centre and a childcare centre. It also has several dining and retail outlets, including a 900-seater hawker centre.
It was awarded Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival in Amsterdam earlier this month.
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