2 cars, 2 fires

SINGAPORE - He had stopped his car to check for directions on his mobile phone when he noticed smoke coming out from the bonnet of his silver Renault Megane.

The driver knew he had no time to lose.

Grabbing his bags from the back seat, he leapt out of his car in the nick of time.

"I got out of the car and everything just went up in flames," he told The New Paper.

Soon after he got out, he heard several loud explosions and saw the bonnet of his car covered in flames.

This happened at about 4.30pm on Friday in the driveway of a building at Science Park 1 near Buona Vista.

The driver, who declined to be named, told The New Paper that his vehicle, a secondhand car, was about 8 1/2 years old.

He was not sure when he last took the car to be serviced.

A witness, Ms Tila, 20, said she saw a small fire on the bonnet grow. It then destroyed the front of the car.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) put out the fire in half an hour, using one water jet and a fire extinguisher.

The front of the car was left charred and black.

SECOND FIRE

In another incident, a car parked at a multi-storey carpark in Tampines burst into flames Friday morning, reported Shin Min Daily News.

The fire filled the second storey of the carpark with smoke.

It is believed to have started from a white sedan and spread to the two cars parked beside it.

The front of the white sedan was completely destroyed and the doors of the cars beside it were badly burned.

The SCDF said it was alerted to the fire at Block 311A, Tampines Street 33 at about 7am.

The fire was extinguished with two water jets and a fire extinguisher. No one was injured. The SCDF said it is investigating both fires.

tnp@sph.com.sg

Get The New Paper for more stories.