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Worried that his newborn daughter would get rashes from his stuffy Redhill flat, a man brought home a second-hand air-conditioning unit left behind by his neighbours.

Beyond his wildest nightmare, the aircon exploded a year later, leaving both his children injured from the fire.

Shin Min Daily News reported that the incident occurred on Apr. 27, 2023, at around 3:40pm at a rental flat in Block 110 Jalan Bukit Merah.

Brought air-con home for newborn with sensitive skin

Upon receiving an alert from a Shin Min reader, a reporter rushed to the scene, but Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) firefighters had put out the fire.

The 34-year-old rental flat resident Chen (transliteration) told the reporter that he lives in the flat with his wife and two children — his eight-year-old son and 19-month-old daughter.

He said when he moved in two years ago, his wife gave birth to his daughter soon after.

They discovered his daughter has sensitive skin and would develop rashes if the living conditions were too warm.

Picked up air-con from neighbour who moved away

However, Chen, a driver, said they are not well-off.

“When a neighbour moved away, I discovered they left behind an air-con, so I brought it home to install,” Chen said. “I never once thought that it would explode like that.”

Aircon spit out white smoke before exploding

He said his wife and children were in the flat and immediately escaped from the flat when they saw the aircon spitting out white smoke.

A neighbour, Azlan, 33, said he saw the trio running out of their flat while screaming for help and heard an explosion soon after.

Chen’s immediate neighbour Radif, 50, told the reporter he heard weird noises coming out from the air-con of his neighbour’s flat when he left his house.

When he reached the void deck, he realised his neighbour’s flat caught fire and immediately rushed home.

Neighbour's kids sent to hospital

He said he was worried that his 77-year-old mother and two grandsons were at home.

After he helped them escape the flat, he tried to help with fighting the fire but gave up as there was too much smoke.

Radif said his grandsons, a 14-year-old and a two-year-old, were sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation.

In response to Mothership's queries, SCDF confirmed that the fire involved an air conditioner in a bedroom of a unit.

SCDF extinguished the fire using a fire extinguisher and conveyed two persons to KK Women's and Children's Hospital.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Family survived on donations

The Shin Min reporter observed that the fire left burnt marks on the flat walls and the common corridor ceiling.

He also noticed a partially burnt packet of diapers left in the corridor.

Chen explained that the diapers were donations from other people and was the only packet surviving the fire.

He said he did not have plans on what to do next and thought it was fortunate that his family was safe and was grateful that the authorities helped them find a temporary place to stay.

Top image via Shin Min Daily News