SINGAPORE – Social enterprise foodcourt Dignity Kitchen will resume business on Valentine’s Day, a day after a large fire outside its premises forced it to close. However, half the building will remain shut.

On Feb 13, Dignity Kitchen announced on its Facebook page that it would be “closed until further notice” due to the fire, which caused some damage to the roof of its building.

Its post was accompanied by photos of the side of its building, which was almost completely charred.

Videos circulated online of the fire showed the alley engulfed in flames, with thick black smoke rising into the sky.

The foodcourt, located in Boon Keng, also runs a hawker training programme for the disabled and disadvantaged, who make up more than half its employees. It is a venture by social enterprise Project Dignity, which was started in 2010 to restore dignity to the differently abled and disadvantaged through vocation.

In response to queries, the police said they were alerted to a case of fire at 69 Boon Keng Road on Feb 13 at 12.15am.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said the fire involved discarded items along the back alley of the premises and it extinguished the fire using a water jet. It added that there were no reported injuries.

When contacted by The Straits Times later the same day, Project Dignity assistant general manager Christopher Koh said that it had been given the green light by the authorities to continue operating from the side of the building that did not catch fire.

“That is where the foodcourt is located at and we’ll continue to provide bento boxes, and host events, within a limited space,” he said.

Mr Koh added that the side of the building that caught fire is mainly used as a training centre.

Training programmes for its participants from the National Silver Academy, which provides learning opportunities for Singaporeans aged 50 and above, as well as for 10 participants with special needs, will be affected, he added.

Mr Koh shared with ST an image of a case card from the police, which stated that the incident had been classified as “mischief by fire”.

In response to queries, the Building and Construction Authority said its engineers had done inspections and assessed that the structural integrity of the building was not affected.

It added that the building owner was advised to cordon off the area affected by the fire and engage a professional engineer to recommend rectification works that needed to be done.

Police investigations are ongoing.