SINGAPORE: About half of Eco Special Waste Management’s plant in Tuas was affected by the blaze this morning, CEO Rick Reidinger told Channel NewsAsia on Thursday (Feb 23).
The Singapore Civil Defence Force was alerted at 6.15am of the fire and sent 200 firefighters to quell the blaze, which it said involved chemical waste and flammable materials. It took four hours to be put out and one firefighter was sent to hospital for heat exhaustion, but no other casualties were reported, it added.
Mr Reidinger said the company has about 300 employees and “20 to 30” of them were likely in the plant when the fire broke out, but he confirmed that no one was hurt in the blaze.
He added the other half of the plant was “undamaged” and hoped that it can be up “within the next few days to a week”.
(Photo: Noor Farhan)
The company is currently investigating the cause of the fire, but it said there were at least “S$5 million to S$10 million worth of fire safety features in the plant”.
“We have a special store for hazardous waste because we are aware it’s flammable. We had a segmented storage area separated by firewalls, with sprinklers and other fire protection features like foam, and special drainage features,” he said.
(Photo: Noor Farhan)
Eco Special Waste Management’s director, Ms Amy Liu, who was also at the incident site, told Channel NewsAsia that it has about 500 clients, and to minimise business disruptions, are now in talks with five other companies to help service these clients.
The company’s plant had previously caught fire in May 2012 but the fire was contained in the incinerator and put out in 30 minutes by four fire engines, according to past reports.
