10-07-2025
Jurong West landlord evicts tenant after his power bank catches fire & causes damage
SINGAPORE: A homeowner kicked out one of the male tenants of their four-room flat after the power bank he had left charging caught fire and caused damage in the room he and another tenant were renting.
The incident occurred at around 11:00 am at Block 339B Kang Ching Road in Jurong West last Saturday (July 5), reported Shin Min Daily News.
At the time, the owner of the flat, Ms Zhu, was at home, along with her husband, 15-year-old son, and 8-month-old baby. They rent out two of their rooms to four male tenants in all.
Ms Zhu, 46, was having breakfast when the tenant's power bank exploded. Her older son was taking a shower, and the baby was asleep.
After she heard the sound of the power bank's explosion, Ms. Zhu said that the living room, where she had been eating, began to fill with smoke. Her husband's first thought was that someone was burning offerings.
They went on to check out the rooms that the tenants were renting and discovered where the smoke was coming from. Alarmingly, some items in the room had caught fire, including a bed frame and mattress, and the flames had already reached the room's air-conditioning unit.
Fortunately, the husband and wife were able to put out the fire owith five pails of water. In their haste to deal with the fire, Ms Zhu told Shin Min Daily News that she didn't even think of calling for help.
The tenants renting the room were not home at the time.
A video that she showed the Chinese-language daily shows that aside from the damage the fire caused to the bed frame, mattress, and air-conditioner, a cabinet and a plastic box for storage were also ruined by the fire. Additionally, there was soot on the ceiling and walls.
The video also showed the remains of a burnt-out power bank.
Ms Zhu said she had reminded tenants not to leave their devices charging when they were not at the flat, but this instruction was not always heeded.
The owner of the power bank that exploded simply blamed the incident on bad luck, showing no remorse for the danger he had put Ms Zhu's family in. He did not even apologise, she told Shin Min Daily News, adding that she has been traumatised by the incident and now feels anxious when she charges her own power bank. He was asked to replace the cabinet and mattress that were damaged in the fire.
The landlord also told the tenant to move out.
By the time officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) arrived on the scene, the fire had already been put out. Ms Zhu's younger child was evaluated by the officers, as he might have inhaled smoke from the explosion. The SCDF also said the cause of the fire is under investigation. /TISG
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