‘Kampung spirit’ fuels Admiralty Grove residents in fire-fighting efforts at HDB corridor

The exterior of a Woodlands Housing Board flat after a fire damaged the corridor’s ceiling and walls.

Published Sep 15, 2026, 07:16 PM

Updated Sep 15, 2026, 07:16 PM

SINGAPORE - The neighbourly, communal spirit of residents in Woodlands’ Admiralty Grove was on display on Sept 14, when they managed to put out a fire in the corridor of an HDB block before fire-fighters arrived.

Resident Faith Chong was having dinner at home at around 9.35pm, when a series of audible mini explosions came from outside her family’s eighth-floor flat.

Realising it was a fire at the corner flat four units away from their own, she and her husband decided the first thing they had to do was try to help their neighbours.

“I shouted ‘Fire! Fire!’... then I called my neighbour (in the affected flat) because I knew she was at home with her mother-in-law and two young kids,” said Chong.

Her husband, Jeffrey Lim, 36, sprang into action, taking along a fire extinguisher they kept at home to fight the flames, she said.

His efforts managed to douse the flames long enough for the affected unit’s occupants to escape the flat through its front door, only for the fire to reignite.

Soon after the extinguisher was depleted, a group of boys from the estate showed up, said Chong , 30 . Unreeling the floor’s communal fire hose, the boys and another man helped put out the fire.

“I was just using my logic,” Lim, a civil servant, said on what guided his rescue efforts, despite having no experience fighting fires before this. He also went back to his flat to get a wet towel so the boys could use it to reduce smoke inhalation amid the fumes.

In a series of videos Chong posted, residents were also seen gathering water pails to assist with the fire-fighting efforts.

The fire involved a shoe rack in the common corridor on the eighth floor, said officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Forces (SCDF), confirming that the fire was put out before they arrived.

There were no reported injuries, and the cause of the fire is under investigation, added the SCDF.

The police said they received several calls for assistance at 9.35pm that day, with investigations ongoing.

Photos taken by residents showed the charred ceiling and walls outside the affected flat. An exercise bike placed outside the flat was also damaged in the fire.

In the face of danger, Chong said, she was moved by the concerted actions and “kampung spirit” of her Admiralty Grove neighbours coming together to keep their estate safe.

Asked what made her decide to help her neighbours instead of evacuating from the block , she drew upon the words of Lilo, of the Disney series Lilo & Stich.

“We are quite closely knit, like a family,” said Chong, a ventriloquist.

“Ohana means family, family means no one gets left behind.”

兀兰组屋的一间公寓发生火灾后，走廊的天花板和墙壁受损，这是公寓外墙的景象。

发布于 2026 年 9 月 15 日下午 7:16

更新于2026年9月15日晚上7:16

新加坡——9月14日，兀兰海军部林苑的居民展现了邻里互助的精神，他们在消防员到达之前就扑灭了组屋走廊里的一场火灾。

晚上 9 点 35 分左右，居民 Faith Chong 正在家中吃晚饭，这时她家八楼的公寓外面传来一连串可听见的迷你爆炸声。

意识到是离他们家四户之隔的拐角公寓发生了火灾，她和丈夫决定首先要做的是尽力帮助邻居。

“我大喊‘着火了！着火了！’……然后我打电话给我的邻居（在受灾的公寓里），因为我知道她和她的婆婆以及两个年幼的孩子在家，”钟说。

她说，她的丈夫杰弗里·林（36岁）立即采取行动，拿出家里的灭火器扑灭了火焰。

他的努力成功地扑灭了火焰，让受影响单元的住户得以从前门逃出公寓，但火势很快又复燃了。

30岁的Chong说，灭火器用完后不久，小区里的一群男孩就出现了。他们和另一名男子一起拉开楼层的公用消防水带，帮忙扑灭了火灾。

“我只是凭着直觉行事，”身为公务员的林先生谈到他当时的救援行动时说道，尽管此前他没有任何灭火经验。他还返回自己的公寓拿了一条湿毛巾，以便孩子们在浓烟中可以用来减少吸入的烟雾。

在 Chong 发布的一系列视频中，还可以看到居民们收集水桶来协助灭火工作。

新加坡民防部队（SCDF）官员表示，火灾起因是八楼公共走廊的一个鞋架，并证实火势在他们到达之前已被扑灭。

新加坡民防部队补充说，目前没有人员伤亡报告，火灾原因正在调查中。

警方表示，当天晚上9点35分接到多个求助电话，目前调查仍在进行中。

居民拍摄的照片显示，受灾公寓的天花板和外墙已被烧焦。放置在公寓外的一辆健身自行车也在火灾中受损。

面对危险，Chong表示，她被Admiralty Grove邻居们团结一致、齐心协力保护社区安全的“甘榜精神”所感动。

当被问及是什么让她决定帮助邻居而不是撤离街区时，她引用了迪士尼动画系列《星际宝贝》中莉萝的话。

“我们关系非常亲密，就像一家人一样，”腹语表演者钟说道。

“Ohana 的意思是家人，家人意味着没有人会被落下。”