SINGAPORE – Mr Amirul Haidy Azlee, 26, woke up to the smell of something burning on Monday morning (June 13) and saw white fumes coming out of the oven in his kitchen.
The mechanical technician said he quickly switched off the device, opened it to let out the smoke and checked to see anything was on fire.
“Everything looked okay so I went to take a shower. But soon after, I saw black smoke seeping into the toilet,” said Mr Amirul, who lives in a fifth-storey unit in Block 310 at Jurong East Street 32.
“I ran into the kitchen and saw the oven was on fire and the flames had spread to the table.”
He tried to put out the fire but the smoke was too dense.
Mr Amirul then helped his mother, 52, and his 7-month-old son out of the burning unit and told his neighbours to evacuate.
“This was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced… It was even more frightening than being in a motorcycle accident because my family is involved,” he said.
He lives in the four-room flat with his parents who are in their 50s, wife, 25, and son. His dad and wife were at work when the fire broke out.
Firefighters put out the blaze and rescued two cats that were in the home.
Mr Amirul’s infant was taken to National University Hospital as a precautionary measure. He has been discharged.
About 15 people were evacuated from neighbouring units by the police.
In a Facebook post, the Singapore Civil Defence Force said it was alerted to the fire at 7.50am.
“Firefighters from Jurong Fire Station extinguished the fire using a water jet and a compressed air foam backpack,” it said.
