SINGAPORE - Electricity supply to some Housing Board flats in Yishun has been cut off for more than 17 hours since the wee hours on Jan 26, following fires which broke out at three floors of a block.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the fires at Block 443 Yishun Avenue 11 at about 12.45am. 

The fire involved electrical meter boxes in electrical risers on the seventh, eighth and ninth floor of the block, the SCDF added. Fires on the seventh and ninth floor burned out before SCDF officers arrived, and the remaining fire was extinguished with a dry powder extinguisher.

A spokesperson for Nee Soon Town Council said an engineer, a contractor and utilities firm SP Group are working to restore power supply on the ground. Final stages of rectification works are ongoing as at 6.40pm.

The power outage affected a few units on each floor of the block, added the spokesperson. The town council was alerted to the incident at 2.50am.

An SP Group spokesperson said on Jan 27 that its electricity meters and network were in order.

A resident who lives on the fourth floor told Shin Min he was unable to do work due to the power outage. 

He said: “As there is no Internet, I cannot work from home and the air-con cannot be turned on.”

Many residents gathered at the void deck as they waited for firefighting operations to conclude, reported the Chinese language media outlet. Medical staff provided treatment to several residents. 

There were no reported injuries, said the SCDF.