Kitchen fires a major concern, says SCDF
Unattended cooking fires up 7% last year; rubbish chute fires remain high
By Tracy Sua and Teh Joo Lin

EVERY two days, there are three cases of pots boiling over in a kitchen, sparking off fires that burn out homes.


DEADLY CONSEQUENCES: While blazing corridor clutter, like this case (above) in Dover Road last month, did not kill anyone last year, shopfront clutter did. Two siblings died when products kept outside a provision shop in Hougang Ave 8 caught fire last September. -- ST FILE PHOTO

Unattended cooking led to 546 fires last year, an increase of more than 7 per cent over the 509 cases in 2006.

The phenomenon was serious enough for the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) to point it out as a key area of concern yesterday, when it revealed its annual fire and ambulance statistics.

Kitchen fires can have life-threatening consequences as the flames spread quickly from the stove to flammable items such as wooden cabinets.

An SCDF study of 652 unattended cooking fires that occurred between April 2006 and June last year indicated that almost half, or 48 per cent of the cases, involved residents between 41 and 60 years in age. Slightly over half of them were men.

Most times, fires started while they were preparing lunch.

A total of 3,213, or 67 per cent, of the 4,796 fires last year were in residential areas.

Discarded items that cluttered common areas caused its fair share of damage with 493 cases last year - 64 more than the previous year.

Just last month, several people had to be rescued from lifts and homes and five suffered from smoke inhalation when a blaze started at a huge heap of discarded furniture and mattresses in a Dover Road block of flats.

Director of SCDF operations Colonel Eric Yap said public education is crucial and home owners must act responsibly. Town councils provide disposal services for bulky items such as furniture.

While blazing corridor clutter did not kill anyone last year, shop front clutter did.

Two siblings died when products kept outside a provision shop in Hougang Avenue 8 caught fire last September.

In the wake of the Hougang fire, some town councils intensified their drive to get shops to comply with fire safety guidelines on goods displayed outdoors.

Town councils stepped up enforcement checks, with some hiring uniformed patrols. Ten of the 16 town councils now have uniformed enforcement officers patrolling the neighbourhood to enforce fire safety rules.

Rubbish chute blazes were also a concern with 1,199 cases last year.

SCDF said 'poor social habits' of residents are the cause. Some threw things such as cigarette butts, lighted incense and charcoal embers into the chute.

Spikes in the number of chute fires occur around festive periods. The reason: the baking of festive goodies on charcoal stoves. Once the baking is over, some people simply tip the charcoal embers into the rubbish chute.