Residents evacuated after fire breaks out at Ubi coffee shop
SINGAPORE: Residents of a Housing Board block at Ubi Avenue 1 were evacuated late Friday (May 30) after a fire broke out, with some people reporting an explosion.
The incident happened at Block 301, Ubi Avenue 1, where some residents were evacuated as a safety precaution.
According to a volunteer at the Residents Network at Ubi Blk 318, Mr Shawn Ho, the fire started in the coffee shop at the base of Block 301.
Member of Parliament of Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC Faishal Ibrahim said in a Facebook post that the fire was put out swiftly by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). He said that 76 residents were evacuated.
A resident, who identified herself as Ms Ng, said her flat was hit by a blackout at about 11.45pm.
She told CNA: "We felt calm because we didn't see any flames, we just saw a big cloud of smoke coming from the coffeeshop area."
'Before the explosion, we already heard the siren.'
Another resident, Mr Zulkifli, said he was in his kitchen when he smelled the smoke.
"When I went down, there was still no fire. Shortly after, there was a small fire, and a big fire, and then an explosion. The whole block tripped after that," he said.
Residents at Touch Ubi hostel, a residential training hostel for adults with mild intellectual disabilities located next to the coffeeshop, were evacuated as well.
Ms Irene Nant, a hostel employee, said there were three care staff members and six residents at the hostel.
She said the residents were woken up by care staff at 11.45pm and the emergency light in the room was switched on. Smoke was also spotted outside the hostel.
Said Ms Nant: 'The safety of our clients is the first priority and I felt scared and worried.'
'We're feeling relieved that we got all our clients downstairs. At least we're all safe,' she added.
At about 1.40am, some residents were told by the Singapore Civil Defence Force that they could return to their flats, and unit numbers were read out.
Assoc Prof Faishal was at the scene after he was alerted to the incident close to midnight.
"These are my residents and I think given the opportunity to come and also help out to meet their needs, it's very critical," he said.
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