'Really love the Kampung spirit': Neighbours put out Woodlands HDB corridor fire before SCDF arrived

Neighbours at a Woodlands public housing block got together to put out a fire that broke out at a corridor and evacuate other residents on Sep. 14.

They managed to extinguish the flames using hose reels before the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) arrived.

In response to Mothership's queries, the SCDF said they were alerted to a fire at Block 693B Woodlands Avenue 6 at about 9:35pm that night.

It involved a shoe rack along the common corridor on the eighth floor.

Jumped into action

Faith Chong, who lived with her family on the eighth floor, shouted when she realised there was a fire.

It had broken out near the unit at the very end of the corridor, she told Mothership.

"[I] alerted my husband who's at home," she said. "Then I called the phone of the neighbour who lives closest to the fire because I knew she was at home with her mother-in-law and two young kids."

Her husband acted fast, grabbing a fire extinguisher in their house.

Videos shared by Chong showed her husband rushing towards a huge blaze, then spraying a fire extinguisher at it while Chong yelled at him to be careful.

The smoke was thick to the point that when the couple blew their noses, they noticed that their mucus was black, she said.

After the flames died down, her husband quickly helped to evacuate the family from the affected unit.

Kampung spirit

Soon, several other residents went over to help.

They were shocked and scared, Chong said.

But in her videos, they appeared calm as they pulled a communal fire hose and carried pails towards the affected unit.

Many of them were young men, who held towels or their shirts over their noses to avoid inhaling the smoke.

Chong, who posted the videos of the incident on Instagram, wrote in her caption that she was "really proud of her husband" for taking action.

She was also moved by how her neighbours gathered and worked together.

"Really love the kampung spirit we have amongst our Admiralty Grove," she said.

According to the SCDF, there were no reported injuries.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.