Fire at Tanjong Pagar, a construction site near International Plaza
SINGAPORE – On Thursday, March 3 evening, a fire broke out at a Tanjong Pagar construction site on Anson Road, just metres away from International Plaza.
According to the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), the fire, which was quickly extinguished, erupted on construction materials that occupied a space of about 100 square metres on the ground floor. What caused this fire is yet to be established, though.
The response from SCDF was spot on; in just about five minutes of receiving the alert, it had its officers on the ground. The agency was informed at 6 pm, and 15 minutes later the fire was already extinguished. It took only two water jets to get it done.
Dark smoke could be seen coming from the site. 29-year-old Jamie Chua said he saw thick smoke coming from the scene. She is a marketing communications manager with her office in the PwC Building, situated 800 metres from Anson Road. The super dark smoke looked scary, according to her.
Another witness, Mr, Michael Hakim, captured a video of the tongues of flame and the thick smoke and sent it to The Straits Times. The 28-year-old is the manager of the mobile app Medicloud business located at International Plaza.
According to The Straits Times, Michael was just leaving when he saw a dark grey smoke emanating from the back of International Plaza and later discovered there was a big fire at the construction site.
He filmed the fire, which he said at one point, appeared to be spreading.
“The workers were confused at first, then they began to take down the construction hoarding,” lamented Michael.
“The police arrived almost immediately and evacuated people from the site and blocked the area’s access road,” he continued.
He further explained that SCDF officers arrived with the fire engines and climbed on the second floor of the building under construction and got a good view of the source of the fire.
Though the fire was big and scary, Michael said the officers were calm and did their job professionally.
Another witness who captured a video of the incident is 27-year-old Andy Koh, who is an automobile industry executive. He had just left his office when he saw a fire engine arrive. He then rushed to the scene, but the area was crowded and had a lot of smoke.
GuocoLand Group who is the investors of the site under development said that there were no casualties. The statement stated that all the workers were accounted, and their safety was the utmost priority.