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SINGAPORE: The number of motor-assisted bicycle (PAB)-related fires doubled in 2020, the Singapore Civil Defense Force (SCDF) said on Friday (February 5) in what it called an “area of concern.”
There were 26 PAB-related fires in 2020, up from 13 the year before, annual statistics released by SCDF showed. This figure has fluctuated in recent years, with 22 cases in 2018, seven in 2017, and 17 in 2016.
On the other hand, fires related to personal mobility devices (PMD) fell by 58.8%, from 102 in 2019 to 42 in 2020. This could be attributed to more stringent restrictions on where the use of PMD is allowed, SCDF said.
Last year also saw fires related to active mobility devices, which include PAB and PMD, which decreased by 40.9 percent.
“Members of the public who own PABs and PMDs should remain vigilant when handling their devices, as these fires can cause casualties and serious property damage,” SCDF said.
“SCDF will continue to raise public awareness of the fire safety risks associated with PMD and PAB, and will educate the public on actions they can take to reduce these risks.”
SCDF Senior Director of Operations, Senior Assistant Commissioner (SAC) Daniel Seet, said the SCDF and the Land Transportation Authority (LTA) are “watching closely” the increase in PAB fires.
“An important observation is that those who own these devices use additional battery packs that are not from the original equipment manufacturers and tamper with their devices. It is not a sure thing,” he said.
“We will continue to monitor this very carefully and look at various levers and initiatives, including public education and direct communication with the owners of these devices to encourage them to review their devices.”
READ: PMD-related fires nearly doubled in 2019; more injured: SCDF
SCDF encouraged members of the public to purchase only EN15194 certified PABs and the LTA orange seal of approval.
The EN15194 certification requires rigorous testing on the mechanical strength of a PAB batteries and the risks of short circuits and overloads.
In July last year, three men were fined between S $ 3,000 and S $ 3,500 in cases involving illegally modified PABs whose batteries had caught fire.
Those convicted of allowing the illegal alteration of a PAB can be imprisoned for up to three months and fined up to S $ 5,000.
LESS FIRE INCIDENTS, MORE INJURIES IN 2020
Overall, there were 1,877 fire incidents in 2020, a 34.4 percent decrease from 2,862 the previous year. SCDF said this was due in large part to a drop in vegetation fires, given the shorter periods of dry weather last year.
Fire incidents in all three categories (residential premises, non-residential premises, and non-buildings) also decreased.
READ: Electric bike catches fire while charging on Yishun’s floor, 3 taken to hospital
Still, SCDF reported an increase in fire injuries, from 142 in 2019 to 184 in 2020. There was one death last year – a 66-year-old man who died after his unit in Block 123 of Ang Mo Avenue Kio 6 caught fire in February. 13.
Electrical fires were the leading cause of all fires, accounting for 29 percent of all fires in 2020. This includes fires involving faulty cables and electrical appliances that ignite nearby combustible materials.
The second most important cause was due to overheating of food or those related to cooking activities. These constituted 22.2 percent of all fires in 2020.
FIRES IN RESIDENTIAL PREMISES
In 2020, 1,054 fires occurred in residential premises, a decrease of 9.8 percent from the previous year. The top three types of fires were unsupervised cooking, discarded items, and electrical, respectively.
There was an increase in unattended kitchen and electrical fires, although fires involving discarded items have been on a downward trend since 2018.
READ: Electric bicycle catches fire while charging on Yishun’s floor, 1 person taken to hospital
“SCDF will continue to post fire safety advisories and educate the public on preventative measures that can be taken in residential facilities,” he said.
This includes posting digital fire safety notices over the kitchen unsupervised in Housing and Development Board blocks across the island last September.
FIRES IN NON-RESIDENTIAL PREMISES
In 2020 there were 386 fire incidents in non-residential premises, a decrease of 22.2% from the previous year. All three categories of fires (commercial, industrial, social and communal) registered a decrease.
“SCDF will continue to collaborate with the National Fire and Civil Emergency Preparedness Council, building owners, and fire safety managers to ensure facilities remain fireproof, while conducting compliance checks at non-residential facilities. to ensure fire safety is maintained, “he said.
FIRES IN NON-BUILT PLACES
There were 437 fire incidents in non-building locations in 2020, a 63.5 percent decrease from the previous year. This was mainly due to a 78% decrease in vegetation fires.
The number of vehicle fires also decreased by 21.5 percent, from 195 in 2019 to 153 last year.
CALLS TO EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES
SCDF said it responded to 190,882 emergency medical services (EMS) calls last year, a decrease of 0.3 percent from the previous year. This is the first time in 20 years that the number has dropped.
This decline can be attributed to fewer non-emergency calls and false alarm calls, as well as fewer traumatic incidents such as traffic and workplace accidents amid the pandemic, SCDF said.
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Despite that, SCDF saw an “increase” in calls related to migrant worker dormitories due to COVID-19. There were about 4,000 calls tied to those locations, which at their peak for several months accounted for about 6 percent of the monthly call volume.
Non-emergency calls and false alarms were also reduced by 16.1% and 14.1%, respectively. SCDF said this could be attributed to its public education efforts as more people stay home during the pandemic.
READ: 219 total suspected COVID-19 cases transmitted by ambulance as of Wednesday morning: SCDF
Of the 175,953 emergency calls received in 2020, 79.5% were related to medical issues, 16% were trauma cases and the remaining 4.5% were traffic accidents. The number of calls involving seniors, or people 65 and older, remained the highest.
In 2020, SCDF transported around 2,000 positive COVID-19 cases and more than 8,300 suspected cases. Of the suspected cases, more than 60 subsequently tested positive. This operation involved around 1,400 people including paramedics, emergency medical technicians and 995 specialists in operations centers.
This meant that staff encountered more challenges on the ground despite the drop in calls, SCDF said.
“They should take special precautions, such as donning personal protective equipment and exercising due care when treating patients in order to minimize the risk of infection,” said SCDF Director of Emergency Medical Services Yong Meng Hwa.
“That will likely increase the stress and workload of EMS personnel.”
MORE HELP FOR 995 CALLS
Starting in March, SCDF said about 995 callers will receive visual guides via SMS to help them provide immediate help in the event of a medical emergency. This is for cases involving asphyxia, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED).
READ: SCDF will no longer bring non-emergency patients to hospitals
These guides, which will be in the form of Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) files, will augment the instructions given over the phone and guide callers step-by-step through the Heimlich maneuver, CPR and AED.
“With this latest initiative, along with dispatcher-assisted CPR, 995 callers will receive telephone instructions and a visual referral to provide medical assistance to victims while they wait for SCDF emergency personnel to arrive,” SCDF said.
“This is expected to give them an additional boost of confidence when they are providing assistance.”
COMPLIANCE VERIFICATIONS
On the law enforcement front, SCDF said it conducted 9,833 compliance checks, as well as issued 2,213 Fire Hazard Reduction Advisories (FHAN) and 1,560 Fire Safety Offense Advisories (NSFO) in 2020.
FHANs are awarded to building owners or other responsible parties to reduce fire risks, while NFSOs are for more serious fire safety violations that warrant more severe penalties.
The most common fire hazard was the failure of the exit sign and emergency lights, which accounted for 26.7% of FHANs issued.
The most common fire safety violation was unauthorized change of facility use, which accounted for 42.4% of total NFSO issued.
Eighty-four cases of fire safety violations were prosecuted in 2020, SCDF said, and most of them were due to unauthorized changes in facility use, followed by unauthorized fire safety work.
READ: SCDF may designate third parties to conduct verifications under proposed changes to the Fire Safety Act
In February last year, a company was fined S $ 12,000 for various infractions that compromised the building’s fire safety, SCDF said.
These include the unauthorized change of use from a factory to a workers’ dormitory and unauthorized fire safety work that involved the construction of a mezzanine and the removal of part of a wall from the fire compartment.
“SCDF continued to work with building owners to ensure fire safety, even as new safe handling measures were being implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said, highlighting the rapid and safe evacuation of occupants during an emergency by fire as an example.
“SCDF takes a serious look at fire safety and has been conducting frequent compliance checks, both proactively and in response to public comment.”
