BMW catches fire in KPE tunnel, man seen hosing it down

A car caught fire inside the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) tunnel on Jul. 23.

The incident happened at around 5pm, along the stretch of road leading towards the Bartley Road exit towards Buangkok, said a Mothership reader who passed by the scene.

Car on fire

The passerby recounted that the car, which he identified as a BMW, had pulled over to the road shoulder along the left-most lane.

Flames engulfed the vehicle's bonnet.

Smoke was seen emanating from the area engulfed by fire.

A man was seen trying to control the blaze with a hose.

Traffic was not heavy in the tunnel at that time.

Traffic continued to move relatively smoothly, with cars creating a wide berth around the affected vehicle.

A lot of smoke

At 5:14pm, another witness posted a picture of the scene on the Telegram group "SGRoad Blocks", showing that authorities had arrived.

This time, there appeared to be a jam as cars filtered into the middle lane.

One person announced that the stretch of tunnel had been closed, and all vehicles were being diverted towards the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) Tuas exit.

The smoke in tunnel situation apparently became worse, as visibility in the enclosed area dropped.

Fire under investigation

Responding to Mothership's queries, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to a fire along KPE towards Tampines Expressway (TPE) after the Sims Avenue exit.

The incident was made known to them on Jul. 23 at about 5pm.

SCDF revealed that the fire involved the engine compartment of the car, but its cause is still under investigation.

The fire was contained by the tunnel's water mist system and subsequently extinguished by SCDF using a water jet.

There were no reported injuries.

Top images from Mothership reader and jumpmanz/SGRoad Blocks