SCDF officer dies after fighting fire onboard vessel
A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officer was pronounced dead at about 6am on May 16 after he was found at the foot of a 4m-high staircase on a vessel.
An alert to a fire on board a vessel anchored in the south-west of Singapore was received just after midnight.
The SCDF firefighters from West Coast Marine Fire Station saw smoke coming out of the engine room of the vessel and commenced firefighting operations.
Rota Commander Tay Xue Qin Kenneth, 30, was moving around the engine room with a thermal imager to detect hot spots within the room while the firefighter he was working with directed a water jet towards the source of the fire.
Another team of firefighters that later entered the room to support the firefighting operations found Captain Tay, who was a Regular Officer, lying at the bottom of a staircase that was about 4m high.
The staircase connected the engine room where the fire was to a lower platform.
Cpt Tay was evacuated as he appeared unwell. He subsequently lost consciousness and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was performed on him.
An SCDF ambulance took Cpt Tay from Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal to National University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
SCDF changed its Facebook cover photo and profile picture to black and white after announcing the death of the Rota Commander.
A ceremonial funeral will be held in honour of Cpt Tay.
The weekly open house at SCDF Fire Stations have been suspended until further notice.
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