Chuah Seng Chu, 52-years-old, threw a lit cigarette butt into a storage area at a HDB storage area, resulting in a fire that damaged two nearby cars.
He was sentenced on 4 March to 6 months imprisonment for his act of negligence, which resulted in the fire at Block 28A Kelantan Road.
What happened?
Chuah was having drinks at a coffee shop near the affected block on 10 September 2020 and on his way home at about 4am the following day, he sat at the bottom of a staircase to smoke a cigarette.
After which he threw the cigarette butt into a nearby storage area that was gated, with a fire then breaking out and spreading to the staircase, the surrounding area and two vehicles nearby.
Chuah was seen in CCTV footage walking past the staircase at about 4.09am, and away from Block 28A Kelantan Road at about 5 minutes later.
The fire was seen by a delivery driver who was passing by, and he then called for help at about 4.20am, and the fire was then put out by the SCDF.
One of the cars required about $13,900 in repair costs, with the other vehicle costing about $20,800 to repair; both of which did not receive restitution from Chuah.