![]() ![]() “In the weeks after the fire, I would take half the day off, on no-pay leave,” said Ms Wei, who declined to give her full name. In between, she would carry the bucket to the toilet to wash vegetables, as the kitchen still did not have a source of water. She was preparing the family’s dinner, chopping vegetables over a bucket in the living room. When TODAY visited Ms Wei’s residence in Clementi, the kitchen was still covered in soot. The 37-year-old, a mother of two primary school age children, had to quit her job in order to take care of her children as they continued to live in the flat while renovations were ongoing. ![]() Her family, with the help of insurance agent friends, managed to claim 60 per cent of the damages from her insurance provider.įor Ms Wei, whose house experienced a fire just a month ago in February, things were much tougher. But even then, it was so overwhelming because we did not know how to go about it.” “Almost every day, we would go back to our unit and take stock of the damage, for us to file our insurance. In those three months, Ms Su did not go to work. “We moved to my sister-in-law's place for three months, while the house was redone,” Ms Su said. The three victims whom TODAY spoke to indicated a range of issues, including their jobs being affected, having to purchase all their belongings that got destroyed like furniture, and finding alternative accommodation. Power assisted bicycles, including personal mobility devices (PMD) and electric bicycles, are a growing concern, with the number of PMD incidents peaking at 68 in 2020.īeyond these numbers, however, are the financial and emotional scars the fires left on families. About a week later, a blaze in Bedok Reservoir resulted in 20 residents being evacuated from their homes. On Jan 9, a fire along East Coast Road damaged six terrace houses, in an incident where firefighters had difficulties removing the cover of a fire hydrant. ![]() Several fires have made the headlines this year. Out of these, the most common causes of a residential fire are unattended cooking, electrical reasons and discarded items. Residential fires are on the decline over the years, going from 2,657 fires in 2017 to 935 in 2022, according to the SCDF. In a sense, victims of house fires spend months, if not years, putting the pieces of their home back together. Ms Su recalls walking through the hallways filled with soot, trying to scavenge whatever pieces of belongings she could find. They had just renovated the Chua Chu Kang condo before the fire happened and it had all gone to waste, she recalled matter-of-factly.īut a family’s struggles do not just end when the flames are put out. ![]() Ms Su’s two sons, who were in secondary school and junior college, had all their study materials turn to ash. The fire started in the master bedroom when an overcharged power bank exploded and spread to the rest of her unit. Some 80 per cent of their house was gone, she estimated. The family rushed home and watched helplessly as their unit went up in flames. Then she received a call from her neighbour: “Is that your house on fire?” It seemed like a normal day,” the 48-year-old project manager recalled. Ms Su does not want history to repeat itself. SINGAPORE - Six years after a fire burnt down most of her house, Ms Sharon Su and her family religiously checks that every single appliance in their home, from the kitchen to their bedrooms, is switched off after use. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |