SINGAPORE — Two separate fires involving personal mobility devices (PMDs) broke out on Monday (Oct 28), resulting in two people being taken to hospital and 40 residents fleeing for their safety.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) responded to the first incident at Block 106, Bedok North Avenue 4 at around 11.15am. The fire had broken out in a flat's kitchen and was extinguished by the SCDF with a water jet.

One man was brought to Singapore General Hospital for smoke inhalation and around 40 residents from the same block evacuated themselves before the SCDF arrived.

The second incident took place at around 11.55am at an e-scooter shop at 33 Lorong 19 Geylang. The fire occurred at a storage room in the shop and was also extinguished by the SCDF using a water jet.

One shop worker suffered burn injuries and was brought to the Singapore General Hospital.

"Preliminary investigations into the cause of both fires indicate that they were of electrical origin from PMDs which were charging at the time of the fires," said the SCDF in a Facebook post on Monday.

In the post, the SCDF also reminded the public of fire safety tips in order to prevent such PMD fires from occuring. For instance, they should not leave their devices charging unattended for an extended period of time or overnight.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) also urged all PMD owners to use UL2272 certified devices, and to dispose of non-UL2272 devices at designated disposal points as soon as possible.

For more information on UL2272 certification and PMD disposal, the public can visit go.gov.sg/ul2272sg or go.govsg/pmddisposal.