SINGAPORE - A fire related to a personal mobility device broke out at a Housing Board flat on the 14th floor of Block 104D Canberra Street on Saturday (June 9) afternoon.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) rescued two boys trapped in a bedroom and sent them to KK Women's and Children's Hospital for burn injuries. Three adults were taken to Singapore General Hospital and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital for smoke inhalation.

SCDF was alerted at 4.15pm and said in a Facebook post that "firefighters, with their air cylinders, had to lug firefighting and rescue equipment up the stairs to reach the raging fire as the lifts were not functioning".

SCDF added that the living room was engulfed in flames and the fire was extinguished within 15 minutes.

The Sunday Times understands that an off-duty section commander from Tuas View fire station was among a group who had tried to put out the fire before SCDF arrived.

A resident on the second floor, who wanted to be known only as Roy, said he heard shouting from the multi-storey carpark opposite the block. He added that he saw four fire engines and two ambulances present.

SCDF is investigating the cause of the fire but said on Facebook that preliminary findings indicate it originated from the battery pack of a PMD in the flat.

SCDF said in February that the number of electric scooters that burst into flames in 2017 soared - even as the number of fire calls fell to a 40-year low.

There were 40 e-scooter fires last year, a sharp rise from nine in 2016.

