Car catches
fire at Lorong 4 Toa Payoh
SINGAPORE: A car caught fire at a car park at Lorong 4 Toa Payoh
on Monday (Oct 19) morning.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted to the fire
at 8.50am, and dispatched a fire engine, a Red Rhino and two fire
bikes to the scene.
There were no reported injuries.
In a video sent to Channel NewsAsia, flames were seen engulfing
the bonnet of a champagne-coloured Hyundai Avante. There were cars
parked beside the burning vehicle.
A SCDF officer can be seen putting out the fire, resulting in a
plume of smoke rising high above the open-air car
park.
Mr Yek Hock Nguong, 42, a kitchen assistant at a coffee shop
nearby, heard from his colleagues that a car was on fire. According
to them, smoke was coming out from the bonnet of the car. The
owner, whom Mr Yek described as a Chinese man in his late 50s,
opened the bonnet and realised that there was a fire inside before
closing it.
Mr Yek took two small fire extinguishers from the coffee shop,
and together with the owner, they tried to put out the fire.
However, the fire grew bigger and the extinguishers ran out.
They then used a fire hose but to no avail either.
According to Mr Yek, the SCDF took about 20 minutes to arrive
and took about 15 minutes to put the fire out.
Mdm Neo, who is her in 50s, had parked beside the burning
Hyundai on Monday morning. She was undergoing dialysis at a centre
nearby. A nurse informed her that a car was burning so she stopped
her dialysis mid-way and went out with the nurse to check at around
10am.
Mdm Neo said that she saw the owner of the Hyundai sorting
through what looked like burnt papers.
When asked about what she intends to do, Mdm Neo said that the
situation was "very problematic" and she was not sure if there are
"other damages".
Her car could still work.
- CNA/wl
