Hometown heroes: Father-son duo in Jurong step up to face fire, spraying hose from stairwell across burning flat
Kampung spirits were set ablaze at this Jurong estate — quite literally, after a flat caught fire and a father-son duo used a hose to try to extinguish it.
At about 5am on Wednesday (June 8), a fire started on the 20th floor of Block 138B at Yuan Ching Road, prompting a heroic father and son to try and help put out the fire, Shin Min Daily News reported.
"After we found the unit below on fire, my husband and son immediately ran out to help fight the fire," Cai, wife of the brave father, said.
"My husband pulled a long water hose up from below and passed it to my son standing in the stairwell, and they worked together to put out the blaze."
Responding to queries by AsiaOne, a spokesperson from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SDCF) said that they utilised a water jet and a hose reel to put out the flames.
"The fire involved contents of a bedroom in a unit on the 20th floor," the spokesperson said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
In a video on Shin Min Daily News' Facebook page, the father and son can be seen aiming a hose across the way from a stairwell to the burning unit.
Beside them and above them are multiple onlookers watching their attempts to put out the fire, and on the ground floor beneath them, flashing emergency vehicle lights could be seen.
Additionally, the video also showed the father spraying a hose while walking down corridors, knocking on doors to alert residents of the danger.
About 46 residents were evacuated from the affected premises, the SCDF spokesperson told AsiaOne.
A family of three managed to exit the burning flat, but the husband and wife were brought to an ambulance and provided with oxygen to breathe.
Another female resident was unwell and lay on the ground, eyewitness Cai, 51, said.
Three people were taken to the Singapore General Hospital, said SCDF.
While many would applaud the acts of the father and son, sometimes it is the inability to act that people may fear the most.
In May this year, Willie Toh tried to help victims of the fire at Bedok North, but could not save them in time. The fire took the lives of three people, including a three-year-old toddler.
"I saw them but could not save them," Toh said to the Straits Times then.
khooyihang@asiaone.com
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