Fire starts in Yishun HDB from student's unattended cooking, put out by neighbour using wet cloth

A 21-year-old student inadvertently started a fire in the kitchen of a Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat in Yishun when she set a pot of oil to heat up on the stove and left it unattended.

After she escaped from the flat with her sister, a neighbour helped to put out the fire with a damp cloth.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed with Mothership that they were alerted to the fire at about 3:50pm on Dec. 14 at a sixth-floor unit of Block 263 Yishun Street 22.

Was heating oil in pot while doing chores

Yafiqah (transliteration from Chinese), the flat owner's daughter, told Shin Min Daily News (Shin Min) that she was trying to fry some frozen food for a quick meal, and did not expect she would start a fire.

While waiting for the oil to heat up, she went to settle some chores in another room.

Yafiqah returned to the kitchen within 10 minutes, only to find the pot on fire, with thick smoke everywhere.

"I got very anxious and called the police, before grabbing my 17-year-old sister to get out of the flat," she said.

Neighbour put out fire with damp cloth

Thankfully, when Yafiqah asked her next-door neighbour for help, the neighbour taught her how to wet a bedsheet to extinguish a fire.

The neighbour then demonstrated this in the kitchen itself, and put out the fire.

In its aftermath, a Shin Min reporter observed that the kitchen cupboards were blackened.

The owner also returned to remove the stove and hood which were damaged in the fire, and placed them in the corridor.

Yafiqah told Shin Min that she felt guilty for causing the fire and was thankful there were no casualties.

Don't leave cooking unattended: SCDF

SCDF confirmed that the fire, which involved contents of a cooking pot, was extinguished by a member of the public using a damp cloth before SCDF's arrival.

An occupant from the unit was assessed for smoke inhalation but declined to be sent to the hospital.

SCDF also reminded the public not to leave any cooking or heating activities unattended, and to switch off any gas or electric supply when not in use.

Top image from Shin Min Daily News