Elderly couple fight bushfire in Geylang temple; 1 taken to hospital

An elderly couple fought a bushfire in a temple in Geylang, Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Cai Yinzhou said in a Facebook post on Friday (March 20).

In his post, Cai stated that he was in the area with his wife and rushed to the scene, finding the couple trying to fight the fire with a hose.

"Luckily a neighbour came with a fire extinguisher, and I was able to extinguish it just as the fire brigade arrived," he said.

In photographs uploaded with his post, a fire can be seen in the vegetation of the temple's front yard, with white smoke billowing.

Video clips also show Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel on the scene.

"Fire safety is a personal and community responsibility, let's keep looking out for one another," Cai added in his post.

Responding to queries from AsiaOne, the SCDF said it was alerted to a fire at 14 Lorong 26 Geylang at around 12.30pm on Friday.

It involved a patch of vegetation and the fire was extinguished using a hose reel.

One person was subsequently taken to Raffles Hospital. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com