Power bank explodes and sparks fire in Jurong West flat, landlord evicts 'unremorseful' tenant
Teo Yan Ting
TNP
July 9, 2025
A power bank is believed to have caused a fire in a Jurong West flat on Friday (July 5), burning parts of a bedroom and prompting the owner to evict her tenant.
The homeowner, Ms Zhu, 46, told Shin Min Daily News that her husband, 15-year-old son, and eight-month-old baby were all home when the fire broke out at around 11am.
Two of the rooms in the four-room unit at Block 339B Kang Ching Road were rented out to a total of four tenants.
Ms Zhu said the blaze started in one of the rented rooms while the male tenant was out. The power bank had apparently been left to charge when it exploded and ignited nearby furnishings.
'The bedroom was on fire'
"I was having breakfast in the living room when I heard a sound like a power trip," she said. "Smoke started filling the room. My husband thought someone was burning offerings, but we soon realised the bedroom was on fire."
When she opened the door, thick smoke billowed out and the flames had already reached the air-conditioning unit.
Ms Zhu's husband extinguished the fire with five buckets of water. Their older son had been showering and the baby was asleep at the time.
Other than a charred power bank, videos taken after the incident show a burnt bed frame and mattress, a damaged air-conditioning unit, and a melted plastic box stuck to a cupboard next to the bed.
The bedroom walls and ceiling are also blackened with soot.
Ms Zhu said her tenants had been instructed to unplug electrical devices when leaving the flat, but the warning went unheeded.
"The tenant didn't apologise or seem remorseful. He just blamed it on bad luck," she said. Following the incident, she asked him to move out.
When contacted, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed that it had received a report about the fire, which involved a power bank in a third-floor bedroom.
The fire was extinguished by members of the public before SCDF officers arrived. One person was assessed for minor injuries.
Investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing.
