Fire breaks out at Desker Road restaurant; no injuries reported

A fire broke out in the kitchen of a restaurant on Desker Road on Wednesday afternoon (Dec 24) after staff left cooking unattended. 

At least five firefighting vehicles, five police cars and several ambulances were dispatched to the incident and a large crowd was gathered when AsiaOne arrived at the scene. 

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to a fire at 119 Desker Road, which is the location of Madya Cuisine and Bar, at about 3.15pm. 

The fire involved the kitchen exhaust ducting in a unit on the first floor, said SCDF. 

Firefighters extinguished the flames using a water jet. 

Three persons self-evacuated before rescuers arrived and there were no reported injuries. 

@asiaone A fire broke out at a shophouse restaurant along Desker Road on Wednesday (Dec 24) afternoon. AsiaOne understands that the fire was caused by unattended cooking. SCDF said that the fire involved contents of a kitchen exhaust ducting. No injuries were reported in the incident. #sgnews #Singapore #Fire #Restaurant #Firefighter ♬ original sound - AsiaOne

Speaking to AsiaOne, the owner of Madya Cuisine and Bar, who wanted to be known only as Vikram, said the fire was caused by unattended cooking. 

He explained that he also runs another eatery further down the street, and that the sole employee present at Madya was only supposed to take orders while the other restaurant sends over the food. 

However, one staff member cooked before stepping out of the kitchen to take orders, which led to the fire. 

Vikram added that he had just installed the kitchen exhaust duct last week and will now have to repair his whole kitchen. 

The cause of the fire is under investigation. 

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xingying.koh@asiaone.com