This is what always happens in Singapore. Only death can motivate the govt to kickstart an investigation and take some action. But they will still not admit their mistake, but instead take this as a one-off incident. There are many many many incidents that need someone’s death to start the govt thinking.
Now, I am more fearful about fire hazard in our HDB estates because there are so many foreigners staying among us.
Will the SCDF care to check on those foreigners staying in HDB flats to ensure there are no hazards ? Most of them do cooking in the house but do you think they really care about safety ?
I have written to SCDF about my case. I told them that I am staying in a corner unit and my immediate neigbour is staying with many foreigners. Worse still, there are always different people staying in that unit. They do cooking in the house daily. I asked SCDF how am I going to escape from my corner unit if a fire breaks out from my neighbour’s unit. I further requested them to inspect on the safety. Below is their “push away type” of reply.
A slab-block typically has the units opening to an external corridor with parapet walls forming the external wall of the building. In view of this, the best route for you and your family to escape is still via the external corridor and finally to the staircase which discharges at the 1st floor. Certain provisions have been factored in by HDB when designing such blocks to prevent smoke-logging at the corridor areas.
Apart from this, may I just inform you that your area is served by Tampines Fire Station (1, Tampines Industrial Ave 3), as well as our satellite fire post, Pasir Ris Fire Post (Pasir Ris St 12). In an event of fire, the emergency appliances typically will take about 8 minutes to reach location.
It is a good practice to have a fire extinguisher handy in a household unit. While it may not be useful in extinguishing a full-blown unit fire, it certainly helps in extinguishing incipient fires, which if not put out in the earlier stage, might lead to an even bigger fire. Besides physical aids, good practices of observing fire safety certainly goes a long way in preventing fires from happening.
Can anyone tell me, isn’t it better to be safe than sorry? What help has the SCDF offered me in their reply? What has the govt done to ensure that our safety is taken care of when they house so many foreigners around us ? Besides the SCDF, I also don’t know what the HDB area office and the town council are doing. They seem to only know how to increase fees.
I know the same thing will happen, wait until a fire breaks out and someone dies. Action “might” then be taken…:(
You die your problem