SINGAPORE - More fires involving active mobility devices (AMDs) raged in 2023 compared with 2022, marking the rise of such blazes again after three years.

These fires – involving personal mobility devices (PMDs), power-assisted bicycles (PABs) and personal mobility aids – increased by 31 per cent to 55 cases in 2023, up from 42 fires in 2022.

In June 2023, a 17-year-old boy died after a fire broke out in a Yishun flat. It had started from a PMD.

The latest numbers reverse the trend in AMD fires, which had been steadily dropping from 2019 to 2022.

Releasing its annual statistics report on Feb 21, Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said such fires were a key fire safety concern.

It said: “Members of the public are reminded to remain vigilant when handling their AMDs, as these fires can result in serious injuries and damage to property.”

Assistant Commissioner (AC) Michael Chua, director of SCDF’s operations department, said at SCDF’s press briefing that such fires persist despite regulatory measures.

“Several (fires) are due to people tampering with the batteries, because they are using the PMDs for delivery... many of them have been tampering to increase the duration and usage for these batteries,” said AC Chua.

There were more fires in 2023 with 1,954 cases in total, an 8.6 per cent increase from 1,799 cases in 2022.

The top two causes were electrical fires and unattended cooking, with 597 and 456 cases respectively.

The majority of AMD blazes – a type of electrical fire – happened in homes, with 35 cases in 2023.

On Oct 28 that year, three residents and a firefighter were taken to hospital after a fire broke out in an HDB flat at Block 326A Sumang Walk, most likely caused by the battery pack of a PAB charging in the living room, SCDF had said then.

On Feb 21, the SCDF said it would continue to disseminate fire safety advisories on AMD fires to the public. The advice includes not leaving batteries charging overnight and not buying non-original batteries.

Meanwhile, fire injuries fell from 171 to 81, and deaths from eight to three from 2022 to 2023.

The other two fatal fires also happened at flats.

In June 2023, a 79-year-old man died after a fire broke out at a Bukit Batok flat involving a sofa in the living room. The fire originated from lit material in the living room, said SCDF.

In July 2023, a man in his 80s died after being taken to hospital, after a fire broke out in his unit at Block 34 Cassia Crescent in Geylang. The fire originated from a power point in the kitchen, said SCDF.

The fall in the number of people injured by fires was partly because the definition of fire injuries was changed from people whom paramedics treated at the scene to only people taken to hospital by the SCDF.

There were also more blazes on the roads or in open spaces.

Fires involving discarded items at such areas surged 165 per cent from 40 cases in 2022 to 106 in 2023.

SCDF said this could be due to a rise in indiscriminate disposal of unwanted items in back alleys, and areas near service roads and grass patches. It said it would step up enforcement checks and public education efforts for such fires.

In January 2023, a supervisor of a moving company dumped unwanted furniture at a secluded spot in Kheam Hock Road, off Lornie Highway, when he had been told to move it to a recycling facility. He was fined $8,000.

Vegetation fires increased by 25.5 per cent to 133 cases in 2023 from 106 in 2022, which SCDF said could be due to drier weather conditions.

The Meteorological Service Singapore had said that 2023 was Singapore’s joint fourth-warmest year on record, with the last nine months of the year clocking above-average temperatures.

SCDF’s report showed there were 246,832 emergency calls in 2023, a 3.9 per cent drop from 256,837 calls in 2022, when demand spiked due to multiple waves of Covid-19 variants.

Of the 2023 calls, 10,724 were non-emergency calls, a 7.1 per cent drop from 11,538 in 2022.

SCDF introduced a non-dispatch policy in 2023 to cope with the demand for emergency services.

The 995 operations centre assesses all emergency calls and sends ambulances only in actual emergencies.

Senior Assistant Commissioner (SAC) Yong Meng Wah, SCDF’s director of emergency medical services, said the policy has been helpful in reducing the unnecessary dispatch of ambulances, and encouraged members of the public to not call SCDF in non-emergencies.

But false alarm calls increased by 3.2 per cent to 6,285 cases in 2023, from 6,089 in 2022.

SCDF said while this was lower than pre-pandemic levels in 2019, it was still a concern as every false alarm call took away an available resource for an emergency.

A man who allegedly made false reports about emergencies, including on attempted suicides and fires, to the police and SCDF hotlines, was charged in court in September 2023.

He allegedly made 31 calls within a month, and his lawyer said he has a mild intellectual disability.

SAC Yong said most false alarm calls were made out of genuine concern from members of the public, such as thinking someone had fainted when they were only resting.

Said SAC Yong: “I would like to urge members of the public who come across any patients that require help not to hesitate to call 995. But do help us to verify the condition of the patients to ensure it’s an emergency.

“If it is found to be a non-emergency, you can help us by calling 995 again to cancel the call so we don’t deprive scarce resources needed for real emergencies.”