SINGAPORE: A fire caused by a portable air conditioner at the Singapore Institute of Management’s (SIM) campus on Thursday (Aug 10) prompted the evacuation of students and faculty staff from two buildings, disrupting classes and examinations.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that it was alerted to the fire at SIM’s location at 461 Clementi Road at about 9.10am.
The SCDF also said that the fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system prior to their arrival at the scene.
No injuries were reported in the incident and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
TODAY understands that the fire occurred in the AV room at the basement of SIM’s Global Education Block B building. When TODAY reached SIM’s Block A campus at about 11am, students were seen sitting at the building’s lobby.
Several said they were allowed back into the building 15 minutes after the evacuation announcement, adding that their classes were cancelled for the rest of the day.
Shanna Goh, 23, a Business Administration student at the university, said that she was in the middle of her psychology module examination at the Block B building when the fire alarm went off.
“Around 9.20 to 9.30am, there was a fire alarm but we didn’t think much about it since we were all focused on the exam and nobody was panicking,” she said.
“About five minutes after the alarm there was an announcement that there would be an investigation. (It told us not to) panic, but that it was also not a drill.”
She said that a second announcement followed, with faculty staff and students eventually evacuating to the atrium near the entrance of the school.
When TODAY tried to enter the basement of the building, the stairs that led to the carpark were cordoned off and there was a pungent smell of smoke lingering in the air.
This article was originally published in TODAY.