ST : Fire at condo site destroys dormitories

Jun 12, 2010

Fire at condo site destroys dormitories

By Mavis Goh & Alexis Cai

A HUGE fire that broke out at a construction site for a condominium project yesterday afternoon cost the workers at the site their living quarters.

The blaze occurred at the site of The Trizon at Ridgewood Close, off Holland Road.

It was believed to have started in one of the eight containers - similar to those used to carry goods - which functioned as worker dormitories. All eight were destroyed by the blaze.

There were 41 workers at the construction site when the fire broke out, and all managed to escape unharmed.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call at about 3.45pm and dispatched two fire bikes, one fire engine and two red rhinos to the scene.

The SCDF said that the fire was under control within 15 minutes.

A resident living in the Montview condominium, which faces the site, said that she heard a loud explosion before seeing flames and smoke.

'For a while, the wind blew the flames directly into the uncompleted units, and I saw about five workers still standing there looking at the fire below. I'm not sure if they ran off after that as the smoke was too thick,' said the 36-year-old housewife, Madam Siriwan Yau.

The Trizon, a 289-unit luxury development by developer Singapore Land, is scheduled to be completed in 2013.

The Straits Times understands that about 40 per cent of the units have been sold.

Attempts to contact the developer were unsuccessful.