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Coffee shop roof charred by blaze

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Resident says fire at Jurong West coffee shop was 'quite big'

Firefighters were seen dousing flames on the roof of a building after a fire broke out at a Jurong West coffee shop yesterday morning.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it was alerted to the fire at Block 964 Jurong West Street 91 at around 9am.

The flames were extinguished using a water jet and a hose reel, the SCDF said, adding that no injuries were reported.

The Straits Times understands the fire involved a ventilation duct at the coffee shop.

Madam Salju, who lives across the road from the coffee shop, said she was working from home at 9.15am when her maid told her about the fire.

When the 53-year-old looked out the window, she noticed that the blaze was "quite big" and there was thick smoke billowing from the coffee shop.

"It was raining heavily, but the fire didn't stop - it just got bigger," she said, adding the fire was put out at around 10am.

She said after the fire, the roof of the building looked charred and blackened.

A cleaner at the coffee shop, which has about 15 stalls, said the fire started at the economy rice stall.

A 39-year-old assistant at the stall, who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, said he was cutting vegetables then.

A pot of oil in the stall caught fire at about 8.45am and it quickly spread up to the exhaust hood, he added.

Stallholders managed to help put out the flames on the stove with a fire extinguisher, but the fire in the exhaust hood was too high. A witness who did not want to be named said the fire also spread to a stall selling Western food before SCDF officers were able to put out the blaze at about 9.20am.

Another witness, who wanted to be known only as Madam Tay, said several stallholders were still selling food after the fire started.

There were a few patrons around, and they left only when the police arrived and told them to evacuate.

Videos sent to ST show the area shrouded in white smoke as firefighting operations were under way.

Tiles on part of the roof were also dislodged and fell onto a few stalls.

The SCDF said the cause of the fire is being investigated. - ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY TIMOTHY GOH

ACCIDENTS FIRE FLOOD