2/14/2019 1,000 evacuated after switch room fire at Carlton Hotel, no one injured, Singapore News & Top

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1,000 evacuated after switch room fire

at Carlton Hotel, no one injured

Fire trucks seen in the vicinity of Carlton Hotel

VIDEO: JONATHAN LIM

 PUBLISHED 2 HOURS AGO UPDATED 3 SEC AGO


Ng Huiwen (mailto:nghuiwen@sph.com.sg)

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2/14/2019 1,000 evacuated after switch room fire at Carlton Hotel, no one injured, Singapore News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - Smoke was seen wafting from a room at the back of the Carlton Hotel in Bras Basah Road
on Thursday afternoon (Feb 14), with witnesses saying that they heard several loud explosions from the
premises.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told The Straits Times that it responded to a fire incident at
76 Bras Basah Road, which is the hotel's address, at 1.15pm.

In an update on Facebook at 3.15pm, SCDF said that the fire was contained within a switch room and
about 1,000 people were evacuated from the building.

SCDF officers put out the fire using extinguishers. There were no reported injuries. 

Public relations executive Jonathan Lim, 32, said that he was in Odeon Towers, which is next to the
hotel, when the building's power supply appeared to be cut off at 1.15pm, with the lights and air-
conditioning going out.

He went out of the building and saw smoke coming out from a door at the back of Carlton Hotel.

The door, which he said was "blown open", appeared to lead to a room containing power supply
equipment, he said.

"I was a bit shocked and alarmed. We saw some metal on the floor near the area," he said.

There was also a strong smell of burning plastic, he added.

Onlookers told him that they heard an explosion earlier.

He said that he later heard a second explosion as he was waiting outside the building.

Photos of the incident showed two fire engines and several SCDF officers at the scene.

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260 evacuated after fire at retirement complex

At around the same time on Thursday afternoon, some parts of central Singapore, including Bugis, City
Hall, Marina and Somerset, were plunged into darkness due to a sudden power outage.

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2/14/2019 1,000 evacuated after switch room fire at Carlton Hotel, no one injured, Singapore News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

It remains unclear if the outage is linked to the fire at Carlton Hotel.

However, SP Group said in a statement on its Facebook page that electricity supply was fully restored in
these areas by 1.21pm, except Carlton Hotel.

SP Group's teams are carrying out works at the substation serving Carlton Hotel to restore supply as
soon as possible, it said. 

Seven MRT station on the North East Line were also affected, though no train services were disrupted.
These stations were Potong Pasir, Boon Keng, Dhoby Ghaut, Clarke Quay, Chinatown, Outram Park,
and HarbourFront.

SCDF said it is investigating the cause of the fire.

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