SINGAPORE: Security officer Subramaniam Krishnan did not expect to witness a fire the size of a “volcano” when he got to work on Thursday morning (Feb 23).
Mr Subramaniam, who works at a factory close to the scene of the fire at a waste management plant, said he was having coffee when he heard two loud sounds. At first, he did not think anything was unusual as he often hears similar sounds from the stacking of containers at a yard next door.
It was the third explosion that caught his attention.
“The third sound was quite different from the first. It’s like a bomb sound,” he told Channel NewsAsia. “I could feel tremors.”
Mr Subramaniam then received a call from one of his security officers, who asked if he heard the sounds as well.
“We rushed to the fourth floor, the rooftop. I saw it was a big fire … Then I did a quick video recording,” Mr Subramaniam recounted. “My officers, they quickly evacuated our cleaners. Some of the staff who arrived in the morning, we got them out.”
About nine people were evacuated from Mr Subramaniam’s workplace between 6.30 and 6.45am, he said.
The security officer said he “quietly panicked” when he saw the size of the fire from the rooftop of his workplace. “Suddenly, at the canal, there was a big sound. A loud bang. Suddenly the fire caught up, I don’t know where the fire came from, suddenly I could see the fire, so big like a volcano,” he said. “That made me a bit panicked. So I quickly rushed down to the ground floor.”
Channel NewsAsia understands that the fire had spread to nearby areas through canals.
Mr Subramaniam said he saw the fire rage through this canal. (Photo: Lee Li Ying)
Mr Subramaniam said he could “feel the heat” of the blaze when recording a video of the incident, and that there was a toxic smell.
“The fire was burning all the way. Very scary. The trees (were) confirmed burnt, the grass (was) all burnt,” he said, adding that he also saw smoke emitting from manholes in the area.
Trees planted next to the canal were burnt as a result. (Photo: Lee Li Ying)
“This is a kind of fire I have never seen,” the security officer said. “A few things (have) happened in the Tuas area, this is the biggest as (far as) I know – very scary.”
It took 200 firefighters from the Singapore Civil Defence Force four hours to extinguish the blaze. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
