Passengers on passing bus shocked to see electric vehicle in flames on BKE: 'We can feel the heat'
An electric vehicle (EV) caught fire on the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) on Feb 17 evening.
Stomper Raven was among the passengers on an SMRT bus service 190 when it drove past the burning car at 9.25pm.
"We were travelling on the double-decker bus when we heard a commotion," recounted the Stomper.
"The noise was coming from a front-seat passenger shouting out 'fire' in Mandarin. We saw that the vehicle was completely in flames on the expressway."
He shared a video taken from the bus as it drove past the burning car.
"We all got a shock," said the Stomper. "We can feel the heat when the bus passed by the burning car. Hopefully, no one was hurt.
"The bus driver was calm and driving slowly to make sure everyone was safe."
Other videos of the car in flames were posted online.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post that it was alerted at about 9.20pm to the fire on the BKE towards Woodlands near Dairy Farm Road.
Firefighters covered the EV with a vehicle fire blanket to isolate the fire and contain the spread of smoke.
Three water jets were deployed to cool the EV and a specialised equipment was used to penetrate the EV's undercarriage battery housing and inject water directly to the burning battery to extinguish the fire.
After the fire was extinguished, firefighters continued to damp down the EV to prevent fire from reigniting as EV fires have a higher risk of re-ignition even after the initial fire is extinguished due to the nature of lithium-ion batteries.
A person was assessed by an SCDF paramedic for a minor burn injury and taken to Singapore General Hospital.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
SCDF added: "Members of the public are advised to equip their vehicles with a fire extinguisher as it can help to extinguish an incipient fire. However, if the fire is threatening to engulf the vehicle or involves an EV battery, they should not attempt to fight the fire.
"In such instances, they are advised to retreat to a safe distance (at least 15m away from the fire) and call 995 for assistance."
