Screams heard as flames shoot from Sembawang HDB flat, woman arrested for allegedly setting fire
A 46-year-old woman was arrested after a fire broke out in a flat at Block 512 Wellington Circle in Sembawang on June 30.
Stomper Kevin Prasad was conducting football training at an open field nearby when he noticed thick black smoke rising into the sky at about 5.15pm.
“We suddenly heard people screaming from the neighbouring block,” said Kevin, a coach with Woodlands Lions Football Academy.
“When we looked over, we saw black smoke engulfing the air.”
Photos and a video shared by the Stomper show flames shooting out from the windows of a high-floor unit as thick black smoke billowed upwards.
Kevin said window frames could be seen burning and falling from the unit.
“There were also minor bursts of flames,” he said. “The black soot travelled upwards towards the floors above, where there were still occupants.”
He added that he and others tried to get closer, but were unable to as the area had been cordoned off.
“Many onlookers could only stand by and watch,” he said.
In response to Stomp’s queries, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and the police said they were alerted to the fire at about 5.15pm.
“The fire involved the bedroom of a unit on the 10th floor,” an SCDF spokesperson said. “The fire was extinguished by SCDF using a water jet.”
A 46-year-old woman was taken to Singapore General Hospital for smoke inhalation.
SCDF said preliminary investigations indicate that the fire was deliberately set.
The police told Stomp that the woman who was taken to hospital for smoke inhalation was later arrested for mischief by fire.
Investigations are ongoing.
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