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Fires involving AMDs up again in 2024 with 21.8% rise in cases; more people died in fires
The SCDF said there were 67 fires involving active mobility devices in 2024, up 21.8 per cent from 55 such fires in 2023.ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
Christine Tan and Claudia Tan
UPDATED FEB 14, 2025, 05:34 AM
SINGAPORE – More active mobility devices (AMDs) caught fire in 2024, with many of these blazes happening in homes.
In its annual statistics report released on Feb 13, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said there were 67 fires involving AMDs in 2024, up 21.8 per cent from 55 such fires in 2023.
This is the second consecutive year that more AMD fires were reported.
The figure in 2023 was a 31 per cent increase from the 42 fires in 2022. Before that, the number of AMD fires had been dropping steadily between 2019 and 2022.
AMDs include personal mobility devices (PMDs), power-assisted bicycles (PABs) and personal mobility aids (PMAs).
SCDF said AMD fires remain an area of concern, especially those that occur in homes. There were 44 AMD fires in homes in 2024, nine more than in 2023.
The Land Transport Authority said on Jan 22 that non-compliant AMDs have led to six deaths since 2019.
SCDF’s report said PABs were the most common type of AMDs involved in fires, with 31 such cases in 2024 and 32 in 2023.
The number of PMDs involved in fires rose from 18 to 25, while the number of PMAs involved in fires more than doubled from five to 11.
When asked why AMD fires continued to rise, an SCDF spokesperson told The Straits Times that a significant number of such fires involve modified devices.
These include those with additional batteries beyond the device’s original design, which voids its safety certification.
The spokesperson said: “We strongly advise the public against modifying their devices, and urge them to do their part to ensure they only use compliant devices for their own safety as well as that of their families and the community.”
Mr Markham Shaw, chairman of the National Fire and Emergency Preparedness Council, said the serious risks posed by AMD fires underscore the need for safe usage and proper charging, and to use only original parts in devices.
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The authorities have recently targeted illegally modified AMDs.
On Jan 23, Prince Bryan Tan, 29, the owner of an electric bicycle shop, was fined $7,000 for selling a non-compliant battery and an illegally modified PAB. It was the first such prosecution here.
The non-compliant devices he sold were linked to two separate blazes in Hougang and Bukit Batok in 2024, with one user suffering burns.
To prevent AMD fires, SCDF urges users to purchase only devices with the UL2272 certification from original manufacturers or official retailers.
Devices should not be left charging unattended for long periods of time. They should also not be placed near combustible materials or along escape routes, said SCDF.
More fire deaths
Five people died in fires in 2024, up from three in 2023.In February 2024, two separate fires killed two people in Housing Board flats in Marsiling Road and Canberra Crescent, respectively.
A man, 60, died in a fire at Block 76 Lorong Limau in Whampoa in May 2024, while another man, 44, died in a blaze outside a flat at Block 107 Potong Pasir Avenue 1 in August that year.
The fifth victim, a 79-year-old woman, was killed in a blaze at Block 692A Choa Chu Kang Crescent in September 2024.
In the case of two men who died in a fire at a Kaki Bukit industrial building that month, SCDF said the cause of death is still under investigation.
Eighty people were injured in fires in 2024, compared with 81 such injuries in 2023.
The total number of blazes rose from 1,954 in 2023 to 1,990 in 2024 due to more fires at commercial premises, as well as at social and communal premises, which include community centres and religious sites.
There were 968 fires in homes in 2024, almost similar to the 970 in 2023.
Unattended cooking and electrical fires – including faults in electrical wiring or overloaded sockets – remained the top two causes of home fires.
SCDF said the main causes were ignition sources, such as overheating and electrical faults in the engine compartment.
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Fewer false alarm calls
One piece of good news was that the number of emergency calls the SCDF received fell 0.6 per cent from 246,832 in 2023 to 245,279 in 2024.Of all the emergency calls in 2024, 5,713, or 2.3 per cent, were false alarm calls. This is a 9.1 per cent decrease from 6,285 such calls received in 2023.
This can be partly due to public education efforts on the usage of emergency hotlines, said SCDF.
Still, it said false alarm calls remain a concern as they consume available resources for emergencies.
The overall response rate of community first responders (CFRs) who assisted in cardiac arrest and minor fire cases increased from about 43.8 per cent to 50.3 per cent in 2024. They had responded to alerts sent via the myResponder app.
SCDF said there were 40,245 new sign-ups on the app in 2024, up 14.1 per cent from 2023.
The app notifies CFRs of cardiac arrest and fire cases within 400m of their location, and identifies nearby automated external defibrillators available.
There are more than 203,000 CFRs registered in the app, which was launched in 2015. Since then, CFRs who had been alerted via the app have saved the lives of 94 cardiac arrest victims.
- Christine Tan is a journalist at The Straits Times reporting on crime, justice and social issues in Singapore.
- Claudia Tan is a journalist on The Straits Times’ crime and courts beat.
