SINGAPORE – A review of past fire incidents has found that there were occasional individual lapses in the way Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers carried out their duties.

These mainly related to the lack of proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as not wearing the PPE properly, or not using breathing apparatus sets during damping-down operations, said SCDF in a statement on Saturday.

Damping down refers to the application of water to wet burnt surfaces immediately after a fire is put out.

As a result, SCDF has since Sept 18 required the establishment of a control point overseen by a breathing apparatus control officer for all residential fires. This was previously done only for fire incidents that were deemed major or complex.

“The purpose of this control point is to assist the ground commander in tracking the deployment of firefighters, as well as to ensure operational safety, such as the adequate use and proper donning of PPE before they enter the fire scene,” said SCDF.

It added that a key task of the officer is to monitor the amount of air remaining in the individuals’ breathing apparatus sets, as well as to plan for their replacement if the operation is ongoing.

The review comes after a residential fire on Dec 8, 2022, claimed the life of a full-time national serviceman (NSF).

Sergeant 1 Edward H. Go suffocated and died after he was allegedly left alone to fight the fire in a fourth-floor rental unit at Block 91 Henderson Road.

The 19-year-old is the first firefighter to have died during an SCDF firefighting operation. An autopsy certified that Sgt 1 Go died of suffocation due to a depleted air cylinder.

Following the incident, SCDF convened an internal review group to examine how the operation was conducted.

The group comprised senior SCDF officers and specialists with “many years of operational and training experience”.

Assistant Commissioner Francis Ng, director of the training and professional development department at SCDF, led the review, which covered many aspects such as firefighting procedures, operational safety, and equipping and training.

Over 260 firefighting operations between January 2021 and Dec 7, 2022, where at least one firefighting waterjet was deployed, were audited. The review team also interviewed nearly 150 section commanders and firefighters involved in the operations, including NSFs, about their experiences and observations.

“The aim was to assess whether the operations on the ground were conducted professionally and safely, particularly the command and control exercised by the commanders on the ground,” said SCDF.

“We further scrutinised 61 of these cases that required more than two firefighting waterjets, which would be considered a more challenging incident.”

It added that the review found that its firefighting doctrine has been systematically taught to SCDF firefighters and its principles are well established on the ground.

The feedback the team received also showed that there was generally good command and control and a focus on operational safety on the ground.

While the findings were that the operations had largely been conducted professionally, competently, and safely, there were occasional individual lapses.

The review team made a number of recommendations focused on operational safety and command and control.

These include a comprehensive review of the selection and training of ground commanders, including enhancements to the training syllabus to rigorously underline the importance of command responsibility, and exercises to test the command and control capabilities of ground commanders.

Officers will also have personal identification markers on the helmets, to improve recognition at the scene of the fire. This is expected to be completed by March 2024, said SCDF. A 360-feedback mechanism and interview panel in the selection of ground commanders has also been piloted since September 2023.

All section commanders will be issued body-worn cameras by March 2024. This was previously limited to senior officers.

SCDF said the cameras will enhance the quality of after-action reviews of incidents, and facilitate live streaming to the SCDF Operations Centre from May 2024.

On Wednesday, SCDF Warrant Officer 2 Muhammad Kamil Mohamed Yasin was charged with one count of causing grievous hurt by a rash act which endangers life or the personal safety of others.

He had allegedly left Sgt 1 Go to fight the fire alone.

SCDF said the 38-year-old was interdicted on half-pay on Thursday. He has been removed from front-line duties since Aug 23.