A fire broke out at a HDB flat at Block 3 Aljunied Lane on 19 August, with 13 people being evacuated from the HDB building earlier today.
The SCDF said in a news release that the fire, which broke out on a 6th-storey flat of the HDB building, was likely started due to a candle that was lit at a prayer altar.
They were alerted to the fire at about 7.05am, and the fire was extinguished using a water jet.
Three people had self-evacuated before the SCDF’s arrival, and they (the SCDF) evacuated another 10 people from the units nearby.
Two people were asses by medics but refused conveyance to the hospital.
The homeowner, 75-year-old Madam Teo Bong Chee, lives in the affected unit alone, and her flat was burned with bags of clothes that pile all the way to the windows, as well as radios, fans and stacks of newspapers, according to The Straits Times.
About 14 rubbish chutes were filled with the items that were burnt from the home.
Madam Teo said that she lit a candle at the altar after her morning exercise, “I only lit the candle for 5 minutes, very risky, one candle can kill the whole house”.