Smoke without fire in Choa Chu Kang

Motorists negotiating their way through the unusually thick fog on the Kranji Expressway at 12.24am yesterday. The mysterious fog that shrouded parts of Choa Chu Kang lasted from late on Thursday night till early the next morning.


Picture is (C) copyright to Singapore Press Holdings

A mysterious cloud of smoke which descended on Choa Chu Kang on Thursday night has confounded officials. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) received a call from a member of the public at 11.20pm about smoke coming from an old folks' home at 9, Choa Chu Kang Avenue.

A Red Rhino and two fire bikes were sent there, but it turned out to be a false alarm. SCDF officers checked three more locations - Block 440, Choa Chu Kang Avenue 4, Warren Golf Club and the Sungei Tengah area but could not find the source of the odourless smoke.

An SCDF spokesman said fire has been ruled out as the cause.

Straits Times journalist Teh Joo Lin, who lives in the area, said he was driving along Choa Chu Kang Avenue 4 at about 11.30pm when he saw 'a thick fog'.

'It was so bad that even with the car's headlights on, you had to look out, as visibility was only several metres at that point.

'Though it lifted later, it was weird because even the decks of the multi-storey carparks had this mysterious fog.'

Mr Teh said the air smelled of ash.

The National Environment Agency is investigating the incident.

Text is reproduced from The Straits Times, copyright of Singapore Press Holdings