SCDF regular officer, 30, dies after fighting fire on board marine vessel, to get ceremonial funeral
Aqil Hamzah and Ang Qing
The Straits Times
May 16, 2024
A 30-year-old firefighter with the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) died in the line of duty in the early hours of May 16.
SCDF identified him as Captain Kenneth Tay Xue Qin, a regular officer who was a stellar rota commander. He completed training for the role in July 2018.
Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the Maritime and Port Authority Of Singapore (MPA) said it was alerted at about 12.05am to the fire, which broke out on China-flagged tanker Sheng Hang Hua 6 at Raffles Reserved Anchorage in the south-west of Singapore.
MPA and SCDF deployed boats to the scene, and the firefighters from West Coast Marine Fire Station arrived at about 1.15am.
SCDF said CPT Tay was paired with another colleague to fight the fire in a smoke-logged engine room at about 3.30am. They were both wearing personal protective equipment.
"While the firefighter was directing his water jet towards the source of the fire, CPT Tay moved around the engine room with a thermal imager to detect other hot spots," SCDF said in its statement on May 16.
"Based on body-worn camera footage which was analysed post-incident, at about 3.53am, CPT Tay appeared to encounter difficulties."
The firefighter who was paired with CPT Tay noticed that the latter had not responded to his calls and tried to look for him in the engine room.
At about 4am, another team of firefighters saw CPT Tay lying at the bottom of a staircase, about 4m down.
Although he was conscious, CPT Tay appeared to be unwell and was immediately evacuated, SCDF said, adding that he eventually lost consciousness when he was taken to the open deck on a stretcher.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was performed on him on the open deck, and continued to be performed on him while he was being evacuated by an SCDF fast response marine vessel to Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal.
An SCDF ambulance was on standby at the ferry terminal and received him at 5.28am.
The ambulance crew continued with CPR en route to the hospital.
The ambulance arrived at about 5.50am at National University Hospital, where CPT Tay was pronounced dead.
Detailing the role of rota commanders, SCDF said those in the post lead a team of front-line officers to respond to fire, rescue and hazardous material incidents.
CPT Tay joined SCDF as a regular officer and began 28 weeks of training in the Rota Commander Course (RCC) on Dec 26, 2017.
He completed the RCC on July 6, 2018, and was posted to Changi Fire Station as a rota commander until Nov 15, 2020.
After his rota commander tour of duty, he was posted as a public education officer at 1st SCDF Division.
While at 1st SCDF Division, CPT Tay expressed a strong interest in pursuing a specialisation in marine firefighting. He successfully completed the five-week Marine Firefighting Specialist Course on May 31, 2022, and was posted to West Coast Marine Fire Station as a marine rota commander on Jan 16, 2023.
Between 2018 and 2023, CPT Tay had aced many proficiency and certification tests that firefighting officers have to take, said SCDF.
Posted by Singapore Civil Defence Force on Thursday, May 16, 2024
It added: "SCDF officers, like CPT Tay, put their lives on the line each time they enter the scene of a fire, in order to save others.
"All the 19 crew members of the vessel were safely accounted for in the incident."
SCDF said it was deeply saddened by the death of CPT Tay and was providing its fullest support to his family.
It said: "With the agreement of the family, we will be holding a ceremonial funeral to honour CPT Tay."
MPA said the fire was put out at around 8.45am. The vessel is in a stable condition and there have been no reports of oil pollution.
The authorities have also issued navigational broadcasts to ships to stay clear of the incident site.
CPT Tay is the second SCDF firefighter to die in the line of duty.
The first was full-time national serviceman Edward H. Go, who suffocated and died during a firefighting operation at a Housing Board unit at Block 91 Henderson Road on Dec 8, 2022.
Sergeant 1 Go was allegedly left alone in the fourth-floor unit to fight the blaze, with the autopsy certifying that he died of suffocation because of a depleted air cylinder.
