A fire broke out at Hong Lim Market and Food Centre during the lunchtime crowd on Friday, January 2, prompting the evacuation of several people but resulting in no reported injuries.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that it was alerted to the incident at about 12.40 pm. Firefighters arrived at the hawker centre along Upper Cross Street and found the fire involving kitchen exhaust ducting on the second floor of the affected block.
SCDF said the blaze was extinguished using three water jets. As a precaution, four people were evacuated from the block while firefighting operations were carried out. The situation was brought under control swiftly, and no injuries were reported.
Members of the public shared images and videos of the incident on social media. A photograph posted on Reddit showed thick smoke billowing from the building, with the user saying it was taken around the time SCDF received the alert.
The same user noted that at least two people were seen running down the stairs of the hawker centre carrying bowls of food as smoke spread through the premises.
Footage uploaded to Facebook shortly before 1 pm showed several fire engines parked outside the smoke-filled building, while members of the public stood nearby observing the response. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
The Hong Lim Market incident is the fourth reported fire in Singapore so far in 2026.
The first occurred in the early hours of New Year's Day on the rooftop of Our Tampines Hub during a fireworks display, with no injuries reported.
The second fire broke out on the afternoon of January 1 at an HDB flat in Sembawang, where four people were taken to hospital and about 90 residents were evacuated. Meanwhile, the third occurred at an industrial building in Sungei Kadut on Friday morning, January 2, and was also brought under control without injuries.
