The government announced the ban of non-approved personal mobility devices (PMDs) on footpaths starting Tuesday (Nov. 5).

And on Monday evening, the same day as the announcement was made, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) put up a post about yet another PMD-related fire.

PMD bursts into flames in Hougang

The SCDF said it responded to a fire at 5pm Monday at Blk 927 Hougang Street 91.

It took buckets of water to extinguish the flames along the corridor on the 11th floor of the HDB block.

The occupants of the two units on either side of the burning PMD were in a state of shock and were assessed by an SCDF paramedic but "subsequently refused conveyance to a hospital".

No injuries were reported.

Preliminary investigations suggested that the fire was caused by the PMD, which was not UL2272-certified, being charged along the corridor.

You can read the SCDF's post here:

Majority of registered PMDs are not UL2272 certified

On Monday in Parliament, Senior Minister of State for Transport Lam Pin Min revealed that over 80 per cent of registered PMDs in Singapore are not UL2272 certified.

That means they are not certified by the regulatory required fire safety standard and can be a fire hazard.

To encourage more Singaporeans to dispose of uncertified PMDs, the Land Transport Authority is giving away S$100 incentives to PMD owners who register to drop them off by the end of this year, ahead of the July 2020 deadline.

Long queues formed over the weekend at the Hougang and Bishan drop-off points as people surrendered their PMDs in exchange for the S$100.

You can find more details about that, and the next collection points till the rest of this year, here:

Top photo collage from SCDF/Facebook

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