Fumes from Tuas fire may be carcinogenic

SINGAPORE - Yesterday's fire at ECO Special Waste Management at 23 Tuas View Circuit was the largest industrial fire this year.

Workplace safety consultant Lee Wee Kiat said asbestos, which the company handles, is highly toxic and carcinogenic in the long term.

Read also: Monster blaze put out in 4 hours

Mr Lee said: "If it was burnt in the fire, it would create a dangerous atmospheric hazard for the people around it."

There were 159 industrial fires last year, according to the latest Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) Fire Incident Statistics Report. That represents 31.4 per cent of the total fires in non-residential premises. There were 158 industrial fires in 2015.

JURONG ISLAND FIRE

One of the biggest fires last year was at a petrochemical facility on Jurong Island when an oil tank caught fire in April.

There were no casualties but the fire raged on for five hours before it was put out by 150 SCDF personnel.

Read also: Video of explosion in Tuas? No, this clip has been around since 2015

In Oct 2015, Leeden National Oxygen chemist Krysten Lim Siaw Chian, 30, died in a blaze at the gas manufacturing firm in Tanjong Kling Road in Jurong.

This article was first published on FEB 24, 2017.  
Get The New Paper for more stories.