Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on the Number of Fires in HDB Units That are Caused by Cluttered Homes in the Last Ten Years

Question:

Miss Rachel Ong: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) for the last ten years, how many fires in HDB units are caused by cluttered homes; and (b) of these, what is the respective percentage of the units that are (i) public rental flats and (ii) two-room flexi flats.

Answer:

Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law:

1.   From January 2018 to August 2022, there were 4,535 fires in HDB units. The main causes of these fires were unattended cooking, indiscriminate disposal of lighted materials such as cigarette butts, and faulty electrical appliances. 15 of them also involved HDB units that had signs of hoarding-like behaviour.

2.   Of these 15 fires, two involved public rental flats while none involved two-room flexi flats.

3.   SCDF does not have information on the number of fires involving HDB units with signs of hoarding-like behaviour, prior to 2018.