SINGAPORE – More than 300 residents in Jurong West were evacuated from their homes after being rudely awakened by a fire that broke out at around 2.45am today (Oct 11).
According to Lianhe Wanbao, the flames engulfed a coffeeshop and market at Block 493 Jurong West Street 41, causing its roof to partially collapse. It also spread to the next block, causing damage to the outer walls of another coffeeshop there.
Photo GalleryFire destroys Jurong coffeeshop and wet market
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In a Facebook post, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said: “At the height of the fire, the roof of the wet market collapsed and the exterior side wall of a coffee shop at Blk 494, which was directly facing the raging blaze, sustained fire damage.”
Firefighters reportedly took one and a half hours to put out the fire, with the building suffering irreparable damage. Some hawkers and stallholders told the Chinese daily that their stalls, along with supplies, were burned to the ground.
Lianhe Wanbao also identified a 63-year-old man as one of three people who runs the stalls at Block 493. He told the paper that the losses incurred from the fire were estimated to be around $1 million.
A reader who wrote in to citizen journalism website Stomp said that she could see the fire from her home.
“We didn’t know what to do until an officer came up and told us to evacuate our homes,” said the reader identified only as Nura.
Stomp reported that Nura heard two explosions during the fire, and that the fire had spread from one side of the coffeeshop to another in just 20 to 30 minutes.
She managed to return to her flat only at 4am this morning.
SCDF added that a woman in her 60s reported experiencing breathing difficulties and was taken to hospital. No other injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
ljessica@sph.com.sg
