Tuas fire put out after 4 hours, no
casualties reported, cause of fire under investigation:
SCDF
SINGAPORE: It took four hours of
"intensive" firefighting by 200 Singapore Civil Defence Force
(SCDF) firefighters to extinguish an enormous fire involving
chemical waste and flammable materials at a waste management plant
on Thursday morning (Feb 23).
At the height of the fire, a total of 38 SCDF
emergency vehicles, including three Unmanned Firefighting Machines
(UFM), were involved, SCDF said. One firefighter who sustained heat
exhaustion during the operation was taken to Ng Teng Fong General
Hospital.
SCDF was alerted at 6.15am to the fire, which
broke out at 23 Tuas View Circuit, the address of Eco Special Waste
Management.
In an update at 8.40am, SCDF said
the 200m by 200m premises were "fully engulfed in flames" when its
firefighters arrived.
"Periodic explosions could be heard as
firefighters battle the blaze to contain it within the affected
premises. SCDF is also applying foam to suppress the fire in the
drains within the immediate vicinity," it added in a later
update.
By 11.21am, SCDF reported that the fire was
"well under control" and that firefighters were dousing pockets of
fire within the premises with foam.
After the fire was extinguished, SCDF said
that damping down operations were continuing to ensure that the
fire was not rekindled.
The cause of the fire is under investigation,
said SCDF.
During the operation, Tuas South
Ave 3 and Tuas View Crescent were closed and the public was advised
to avoid the area.
When Channel NewsAsia arrived on the scene at
9.50am, there was an acrid chemical smell in the air. An extensive
cordon had been established around the area extending to Tuas South
Avenues 3, 7, 8 and 9, with SCDF personnel and police preventing
people from getting any closer.
Marine and offshore manufacturer Pride-Chem,
which is situated nearby, told Channel NewsAsia at 9.15am that the
fire had been "contained" and it looked like "SCDF has it under
control". Chemicals company Framo Singapore located across the road
from the fire said its staff had been evacuated to a staging area,
with masks distributed as a precautionary measure.
StarHub mobile subscribers within
the immediate vicinity of the fire incident would have received an
advisory message urging members of the public to stay away from the
area, according to SCDF.
Eco Special Waste Management'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.
- CNA/mz