Smoke in the Sky

Looking to the north direction, thick dark smokes are seen billowing into the sky, most likely from the Kranji industrial area beyond those high-rise apartments.

Strange things could happen on a Sunday afternoon when very few workers are around in the factories.

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LATEST: "Biggest fire in 5 years razes factory

AN INFERNO swept through a factory complex in the Sungei Kadut area near Woodlands yesterday afternoon, razing several tin shacks." -- The Straits Times, August 4, 2008 Monday

By Esther Tan and Elizabeth Wilmot

"Units destroyed in Sungei Kadut factory fire not insured, say shop tenants

SHOP tenants at a factory complex in Sungei Kadut were picking through the debris on Monday to salvage what little they could after a fire on Sunday tore through about 40 units there.

Many were milling around and trying to fathom how the blaze happened.

The fire began in the rear of the complex at about 1 pm on Sunday and quickly spread through the units in its path before Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers brought it under control after four hours.

Most of the shop units were rented by small woodworking companies and a few were occupied by tyre manufacturers.

Several shopowners told The Straits Times that all the gutted units were uninsured.

'No one wants to insure us. We're considered a high-fire risk industry,' said 62-year-old Phuah Lam Teng.

His shop unit, Aik Boon Furniture, was completely destroyed in the fire and he lost a few thousand dollars worth of furniture.

Mr Lee Choo Choong, 63, owner of Yong Lee Furnitures, had it worse, His losses amounted to about $30,000.

'What can I do now? I'm resigned to fate. My mind is a blank now,' he said.

There has been speculation that the fire was started by the burning of joss papers by one of the owners at a shop unit."