Fire breaks out at semi-detached house in Hougang

A fire broke out at a semi-detached house along Park Villas Green in Hougang on Saturday (Oct 3) evening.

Residents in the area told AsiaOne they heard what sounded like an explosion at 6.30pm.

Asked if anyone had tried to help put out the fire, 18-year-old Cody Tan who stays in a house nearby said the conditions made it difficult to do so.

"The fire, which started on the first floor, was quite big and had spread," he explained.

Another witness, surnamed Ngiam, recalled seeing thick black smoke billowing out from the house as the fire spread. "It even reached the treeline level," he said.

"I could see smoke from where I was," said the resident in his 40s, who lives in a low-rise apartment complex about 200 metres away.

When AsiaOne reached the scene just after 7.30pm, at least one combined platform ladder used for aerial firefighting, one fire engine, an ambulance, and a support vehicle were present at the scene.

The smell of burnt plastic and paint hung in the air.

In videos shown to AsiaOne, firefighters were seen firefighting from a driveway at the next-door low-rise apartment complex, while containing the blaze.

Responding to AsiaOne's queries, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said the three-storey house was emitting black smoke when firefighters arrived.

"The fire, which involved items on the ground floor of the house, was extinguished by firefighters using three water jets."

According to SCDF, two persons self-evacuated from the affected unit and there were no reported injuries.

SCDF reminded members of the public that the top three causes of fires in residential premises are unattended cooking, electrical fires and unattended lighted materials.

Homeowners and residents are advised not to leave cooking unattended, and to keep stove-tops, cooker hoods and ovens clean and free of grease.

They should also avoid overloading power sockets or charging devices overnight without supervision.

Lighted materials such as incense sticks or cigarettes should never be left unattended and must be fully extinguished before disposal.

10月3日（星期六）晚上，后港Park Villas Green的一栋半独立式住宅发生火灾。

该地区的居民告诉AsiaOne，他们在下午6点30分听到了一声类似爆炸的声音。

当被问及是否有人试图帮忙灭火时，住在附近房子里的 18 岁青年 Cody Tan 表示，当时的情况使得灭火变得困难。

“火灾是从一楼开始的，火势很大，而且迅速蔓延，”他解释说。

另一位姓严的目击者回忆说，火势蔓延时，他看到浓浓的黑烟从房子里滚滚而出。“火势甚至蔓延到了树林边缘，”他说。

“我从我所在的地方就能看到烟雾，”这位40多岁的居民说道，他住在距离事发地点约200米的一栋低层公寓楼里。

当 AsiaOne 记者晚上 7 点 30 分刚过到达现场时，现场至少有一辆用于空中灭火的组合平台云梯车、一辆消防车、一辆救护车和一辆支援车辆。

空气中弥漫着塑料和油漆烧焦的气味。

亚洲新闻网（AsiaOne）看到的视频显示，消防员在隔壁低层公寓楼的车道上灭火，同时控制火势。

针对 AsiaOne 的询问，新加坡民防部队 (SCDF) 表示，消防员到达现场时，这栋三层楼的房子正在冒出黑烟。

“火灾涉及房屋一楼的物品，消防员使用三支水枪将火扑灭。”

据新加坡民防部队称，受影响单位有两人自行撤离，没有人员受伤的报告。

新加坡民防部队提醒公众，住宅火灾的三大主要原因是无人看管的烹饪、电器火灾和无人看管的点燃物品。

建议房主和居民不要在烹饪时无人看管，并保持炉灶、抽油烟机和烤箱清洁无油污。

他们还应该避免电源插座过载或在无人看管的情况下整夜充电。

点燃的物品，例如香或香烟，绝不能无人看管，并且在丢弃前必须完全熄灭。