Singapore: Fire breaks out in Samsung storeroom at Ang Mo Kio Hub

An SCDF spokesman says the fire involved contents measuring 1m by 2m in the shop's storeroom.

A small fire broke out in the storeroom of the Samsung Experience Store in the basement of Ang Mo Kio (AMK) Hub shopping mall early on Tuesday morning. According to reports, the fire was extinguished by the mall's sprinkler system and a water jet by Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel.

An SCDF spokesman said the fire involved contents measuring 1m by 2m in the shop's storeroom. The police said the investigations are ongoing.

Andy Kau, the AMK Hub general manager said the fire took place at around 1.30 am. "There are no injuries, but in the interest of safety and for the purpose of cleaning up, we have closed off the area surrounding Samsung Experience Store to the public," Kau told The Straits Times.

"We will be working with the few affected tenants to assist them in resuming their business operations as soon as possible," he added. However, he added that the rest of the mall is unaffected by the fire and is open for business as usual.

A Samsung spokesman said that it is assessing the property damage and working closely with authorities to determine the cause of the fire. He added that the store will temporarily remain closed during this period.

A few shops located around the Samsung store were also affected by water damage from the sprinklers that had triggered due to smoke detection. The mall authorities have already engaged cleaning staff to help the stores with the clean-up. They will also smoke purifiers to remove any lingering smoke smell.

On Tuesday morning, the fitness club said in a statement on Facebook that its basement one outlet at the mall was temporarily closed due to the fire.

Genevieve Monteiro, the branch's general manager said the outlet was closed due to the smoke smell and also due to uncertainty over whether any electricals have been affected. The fitness club also suffered minor damage due to water in the weights area and the branch experienced a power trip.

"The water damage looks bad, you can see it at the bed display area," Lim, a housewife, who had come to the gym to work out, said. The Fitness First reopened at around noon but some parts of it still remained closed due to the water damage.

The AMK Hub opened in 2007 and since then this is the fourth fire that occurred in the mall. In August 2010, an escalator fire led to the evacuation of a thousand shoppers. But, there were no reports of any injury. The other two fires were minor ones that happened in a toilet and in the electrical room.

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