[ad_1]
SINGAPORE: A temple in Sembawang caught fire on Friday night (September 18).
Videos posted on social media showed large plumes of smoke rising from the Sembawang Wealth God Temple on Admiralty Street, with most of the building engulfed in flames.
In a Facebook post, the Singapore Civil Defense Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the fire around 9.15pm.
The four-story temple was “well lit” when firefighters arrived at the scene.
The fire “had engulfed the first floor of a 4-story temple and was spreading to the second floor,” SCDF said.
“As a security measure, the police evacuated the residents of a nearby nursing home,” SCDF said.
The Acacia Home, which opened in April 2018, helps the indigent elderly and is located next to the temple.
“During (the) evacuation, an elderly man in the home experienced shortness of breath and was evaluated by an SCDF paramedic,” SCDF said, adding that the man was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
“No other injuries were reported and the elderly residents returned to their rooms around 11:45 pm,” SCDF said.
A total of 11 emergency vehicles and some 60 firefighters participated in the operation, which at its peak saw seven jets of water used to fight the fire.
“The fire, confined to the first and second floors of the 4-story temple, was extinguished around midnight,” confirmed SCDF.
Buffer operations are ongoing, SCDF said around 12:51 am on Saturday. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
