Last Sunday (June 29), a fire broke out at around 2.30pm in the kitchen of local mod roast meat restaurant Fook Kin, which is co-owned by Class 95 DJs The Muttons and the hawkers behind Old Airport Road Hawker Centre roast meat stall Roast Paradise.

The restaurant, which is located at Killiney Road, announced the incident in a Facebook post.

“Thank goodness no one was hurt,” says Vernon A to 8days.sg. The 47-year-old is one-half of The Muttons together with fellow jock Justin Ang, 37. The duo was on personal leave from their morning radio show Muttons in the Morning and holidaying in the US when the fire occurred.

According to Vernon, the fire started from a cylinder that was used to cook Fook Kin’s house-roasted meats. He explains: “The drum that was roasting char siew got heated up by the charcoal fire, and started to burn the already caramelised char siew drippings. The fire was containable at that point, but our chef panicked a little and threw water at the charcoal. That caused the fire to surge and engulf the greasy exhaust hood, and it continued to shoot through the ducting.”

The fire caused thick smoke to fill the eatery, though its staff and some 40 diners managed to evacuate safely from the shop. The flames were shortly put out by a fire brigade from the Civil Defence Force.

Following the incident, Fook Kin had to close for two weeks for renovation and repairs. A post on their Facebook page stated that the restaurant is “in the process of a major exhaust overhaul due to the severe damage from the fire”.

“The fire damaged [the kitchen’s] exhaust hood and the ducting,” shares Vernon. “We’ve to get our contractors to replace the exhaust hood, ducting, some electrical wiring and also repaint the area. We’re also looking at a loss of revenue for [being closed for] two weeks. We’re covered by fire insurance, and are in the midst of submitting our claims.”

The restaurant will reopen “hopefully by July 16”, he adds, as the repair work is expected to take “15 days” to complete.

Though unfortunate, the accident is also not without its, er, heartwarming moments. Another post on Fook Kin’s Facebook page praised their Killiney Road neighbour, Da Shi Jia Big Prawn Mee, for immediately coming to the rescue.

“The young boss behind @dashijiaprawnmee also ran to our place with two huge fire extinguishers to help us fight the fire during the accident last weekend,” the post explains. “We’re grateful for the close relationship shared and the help rendered.”

It’s also apparently not the first time that the prawn mee eatery rose to the occasion as an exemplary neighbour. Fook Kin’s post also reminisced about Da Shi Jia helping them out when they ran out of pork lard: “This good neighbour of ours offered to give us a big container of it and gave us great advice that we definitely kept in mind.”

True kampung spirit.

PHOTOS: FOOK KIN