SINGAPORE: A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officer  , has been sentenced to six months ‘ jail for , endangering the life of a full-time national serviceman ( NSF ) who died after a firefighting operation in 2022.
Muhammad Kamil Mohamed Yasin, 39, entered a guilty plea on Wednesday ( Jan 15 ) to a charge of causing grievous harm by performing a reckless deed that endangered life.
The 19-year-old NSF, Sergeant 1 (SGT1 ) Edward H Go, was the first fire to perish because of an SCDF activity.
He died in a hospital after that day after being unconscious while battling a fireplace at Block 91, Henderson Road on December 8, 2022. Suffocation was the cause of death due to a diminished heat barrel.
Kamil was the earth captain at the time. He did not inform any other agent that the NSF was still in the apartment as the fire burned, instead leaving SGT1 Go only to battle the blaze. He also gave him a thumbs-up and a tap on the shoulder, and he did not inform any other agent that the NSF was still there.
This was against the SCDF soldiers ‘ policy of operating only sparingly in groups, which Kamil was aware of as a fire with 14 years of standing at the time.
The prosecution walked the jury through the circumstances surrounding SGT1 Go’s suicide on Wednesday, making the sequence of events public for the first time.
The trial had sought at least six months ‘ prison, while the army asked for two to three months ‘ prison.
District Judge Shawn Ho extended his sincere condolences to the SGT1 Go home, who was present in court.
” He painfully lost his life while serving Na as a brave firefighter”, the prosecutor said.
Fire Duties
Kamil worked for SCDF in 2008. At the time of the event, he was the deputy schedule chief of Central Fire Station’s Rota 1.
He supervised over 34 SCDF patrons and NSFs in that place, which he had held since 2021.
SGT1 Come, then a sergeant, was attached to Central Fire Station’s Rota 1 and was under Kamil’s control. At the time of the hearth, he was on change.
According to Deputy Public Prosecutors Jordon Li and Benjamin Low, SCDF’s fire safety doctrines position that fire is actually and physically demanding and inherently risky.
The rules especially instruct firefighters not to provide a chance area without the approval of the fireplace ground commander or staging officer-in-charge.
Due to the hazards, firefighters are required to work less in pairs, and not only in a fire place. As a freshman SCDF agent, Kamil was aware of this, said Mr Low.
WHAT HAPPENED
A fire broke out in a room in a straight on the third floor of Block 91, Henderson Road, around 11.10 am, according to SCDF. Around two days after, firefighting supplies arrived.
The home’s area was under the authority of Alexandra Fire Station, but as that station’s soldiers were now attending to another incidents, SCDF resources from Central, Marina Bay and Sentosa fireplace stations were activated.
Pump Ladder 112E, which was dispatched to the Henderson Road fireplace, served with SGT1 Go. Pump Ladder 111 was attached to Kamil.
Around the same day, about 11.22 a.m., both products arrived at the open-air car park on Henderson Road and set foot at the spot on the fifth floor.
In accordance with SCDF’s administrative procedures, Kamil assumed command as the floor commander of the operation because he was the highest ranking officer present at the time.
Maybe after 11.25am, Kamil, SGT1 Go and another firefighter , – Lance Corporal Muhammad Irfan Mohammed Ariff , – were waiting outside the smooth with a fire line.
When the line began receiving waters, LCP Irfan sprayed it at the apartment’s front doorway at Kamil’s guidelines. After a while, Kamil assisted in opening the front door so LCP Irfan could use the line to provide the apartment.
SGT1 Go was finally given instructions by Kamil to enter the level and help LCP Irfan in battling the fire by clearing any obstruction behind the front door.
All three finally entered the smooth with LCP Irfan holding the hose’s tip in the direction of the fireplace, SGT1 Go in assistance, and finally, Kamil. They were about 3 meters from the front entrance.
LCP Irfan began to feel worn out after receiving permission from Kamil to keep the unit.
Kamil supported him from behind as SGT1 Go hosed the line and poured water at the fire, as required by two people for the proper functioning of the line.
Kamil once came to the conclusion that a minute line was necessary because the fire kept igniting, and demanded that it be set up.
ACCUSED LEAVES THE Even
Kamil started feeling shivering from the temperature a few minutes after LCP Irfan left the apartment and made the decision to leave to rest and recover.
Kamil tapped SGT1 Go’s back and gave him a thumbs-up movement before leaving the level. He failed to let SGT1 Get know that he was leaving the apartment orally.
Kamil did so in violation of SCDF’s health principles by working only sparingly in groups.
The blaze was still continued, and SGT1 Go remained in the smooth fighting the incident by himself.
After leaving the product, Kamil went to the stairway. According to the prosecutors, he did not use the designated relaxation area in the elevate lobby because he did not want the additional firefighters under his control to see him leave the apartment first.
At the stairway, Kamil encountered Lieutenant-Colonel Hassan Kuddoos Abu Bakar Maricar, who had arrived at the scene at about 11.49am.
LTC Hassan assumed the position of earth commander from Kamil when he was the officer with the highest ranking.
Kamil informed LTC Hassan that the fire was in the home’s kitchen place, “one jet”– referring to a fire hose – was at work, there were no casualties, some cats had been evacuated, and he had asked for a minute fire hose to get deployed.
He did not inform LTC Hassan, nor any other SCDF officer, that SGT1 Go was in the flat fighting the fire alone.
Kamil was then given permission to enter the holding area and change his breathing apparatus. After this, he left the apartment and began working.
LTC Hassan visited the apartment to assess the fire. He tested the fire hose after noticing it near the front door. He discovered that there was a low water pressure.
When the fire hose’s water pressure is low, firefighters are required to retreat under SCDF’s firefighting protocols. LTC Hassan determined that all of the flat’s firefighters had retreated and had departed to the waiting area.
Another group of firefighters showed up at around 12.55pm and managed to contain the flames by removing the second hose.
They entered the flat and found SGT1 Go lying motionless on the kitchen floor, near the window. SGT1 Go was extracted and received cardiopulmonary resuscitation, before being taken to the hospital.
He was pronounced dead at 2.15pm.
For causing grievous hurt through a rash act that endangered life, Kamil could have been jailed for up to four years, fined up to S$ 10, 000 ( US$ 7, 300), or face both punishments.
SGT1 Go was given a ceremonial funeral on Dec 13, 2022 and posthumously promoted from corporal to sergeant.
Following his passing, SCDF conducted an internal review and took steps to improve the selection and training of ground commanders, such as by conducting exercises to test their command and control abilities.
More than 260 firefighting operations were audited by the force between 2021 and 2022, and it was determined that, despite sporadic individual errors, they were conducted safely and competently.
In order to reduce lapses, SCDF implemented more safety measures, such as having an officer monitor firefighters ‘ deployment and check their personal protective equipment even in smaller, home fires.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim said in February 2023 that the ministry would convene a Board of Inquiry , into the incident after the coroner’s findings on SGT1 Go’s death were established.