The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is a uniformed organisation in Singapore under the Ministry of Home Affairs that provides emergency services such as firefighting, technical rescue, and emergency medical services, and coordinates national civil defence programme.
History
Singapore's first Fire Committee was formed in 1855.<!-- Removed while awaiting source: after a fire in Kling Street destroyed Straits Dollars $13,000 worth of property on 7 November 1855. --> Prior to this, fires were attended to by uniformed groups which included the police, sepoys, marine soldiers and even convicts. On 7 September 1869, the Governor Major-General Sir Harry St. George Ord enacted the Fire Ordinance and appointed the Colonial Engineer as Chairman of the Fire Commission for Singapore. This Fire Commission was however later disbanded in 1884 due to poor organisation and difficult circumstances. In 1888, the Singapore Fire Brigade was established as a fully-equipped professional brigade with sufficient funding. By 1909, there were a total of three built stations servicing Singapore, namely Central Fire Station at Hill Street, Cross Street and Kallang Fire Stations.<!-- Removed while awaiting source: Over the early years of independence, the Singapore Fire Brigade faced several major incidents, such as the Bukit Ho Swee Fire of 1961, the Robinson Fire of 1972, and the Spyros explosion and fire of 1978.--> In 1980, the brigade was officially renamed the Singapore Fire Service (SFS).
In 1970, on the basis of elements of the SPF's Vigilante Corps, raised in the early 1960s, the Police Civil Defence Force was created under the purview of the Singapore Police Force. In 1982, the National Civil Defence Plan was launched which spearheaded the emergency preparedness for the nation at large and as a consequence of this plan majority of the SPF-VC's serving personnel joined the SPF-PCDF, which the plan designated as the nation's primary organization for civil defence and disaster response. With the enactment of the Civil Defence Act in 1986, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), by now separate from the SPF proper, was established as an organisation under the Ministry of Home Affairs. In the same year, the Hotel New World disaster paved the way for joint operations between the SCDF and SFS. The SCDF and SFS were merged on 15 April 1989 into one organization.
The newly integrated SCDF mainly used facilities which were handed over from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) or the Singapore Police Force (SPF). Since the early 2000s, its headquarters and territorial divisions have all moved into purpose-built facilities. SCDF's involvement in regional disaster relief operations has also raised its profile significantly.
On 18 January 2009, SCDF was classified by INSARAG as a heavy urban search and rescue team, the highest level of urban search and rescue service.
Organisation structure
SCDF is led by the Commissioner of the SCDF and three deputy commissioners, each in charge of Strategy & Corporate Services, Operations & Resilience and Future Technology & Public Safety. The SCDF is organised with one headquarter element commanding seven divisions. Of the latter, four (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Divisions) are territorial divisions; another two are training divisions, namely the Civil Defence Academy (CDA) and National Service Training Centre (NSTC) and can be activated as the 5th and 6th Divisions respectively in times of emergency; the eighth is the Marine Division, which was set up on 1 April 2012 with the capability and capacity to respond to marine fire and rescue incidents.
Leadership
{| class="wikitable"
!Appointment
!Rank and office holder
|-
|Commissioner SCDF
|COMR Eric Yap Wee Teck
|-
|Deputy Commissioner SCDF (Strategy & Corporate Services)
|DC Teong How Hwa
|-
|Deputy Commissioner SCDF (Operations & Resilience)
|DC Ling Young Ern
|-
|Deputy Commissioner SCDF (Future Technology & Public Safety)
|DC Daniel Seet Siew Teck
|-
|Assistant Commissioner SCDF
|AC Ryan Ong Yuan Wei
|}
Staff departments
Source:
Operations & Resilience
{| class="wikitable"
!Department
!Area of responsibility
|-
|Operations Department
|Controls and maintains SCDF's frontline operational readiness across the island
|-
|Emergency Medical Services Department
|Controls and maintains SCDF's Paramedic, EMT and ambulance response across the island
|-
|Hazardous Materials Department
|Regulates and enforces Hazardous Materials (HazMat) products in Singapore
|-
|Volunteer and Community Partnership Department
|Community engagement and fire prevention
|}
Future Technology and Public Safety
{| class="wikitable"
!Department
!Area of responsibility
|-
|Transformation and Future Technology Department
|Development of Science & Technology
|-
|Fire Safety and Shelter Department
|Maintains and regulates fire safety; Manages and regulates all CD Shelters in Singapore
|-
|Central Enforcement Department
|Enforces fire safety and conducts fire safety inspections
|-
|Training Department
|Training and maintenance of firefighting standards
|-
|Civil Defence Academy
|Conduct of vocational training such as Firefighting Course and EMT course as well as leadership and command & staff courses
|-
|National Service Training Centre
|Conducts Basic Rescue Training for newly enlisted National Servicemen as well as In Camp Training for NSmen
|}
Strategy and Corporate Services
{| class="wikitable"
!Department
!Area of responsibility
|-
|Service Excellence Department
|Handling of public feedback and service quality affairs
|-
|Planning and Organisation Department
|Administrative, strategic planning and organisational development
|-
|Human Resources Department
|Human resource management of active personnel and Civil Defence National Servicemen
|-
|Finance Department
|Finance services
|-
|Logistics Department
|Procurement, distribution and maintenance of equipment
|}
Headquarters
thumb|The administration office tower of HQ SCDF
HQ SCDF, Central Supply Base, SCDF Operations Centre, and Paya Lebar Fire Station are located in the Civil Defence Complex at Ubi.
Operational divisions
thumb|[[Central Fire Station, Singapore|Central Fire Station, built in 1909, is Singapore's oldest fire station]]
Each territorial division has a boundary of responsibility within Singapore, and possesses its own command centre and hazmat capabilities. Administrative and logistical support is split between Corporate Service Hub East and Corporate Service Hub West.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Division
!Responsibility
!Fire Stations
!Fire Posts
!Location
|-
|1st Division
|Covers the general south of Singapore, stretching from Clementi to the Central Business District (CBD), and also includes Jurong Island, an oil refining centre.
|Central, Alexandra, Clementi, Jurong Island, Bishan, Banyan, Marina Bay, and Sentosa
|Boon Keng, Cairnhill, Bukit Merah View, Telok Blangah, Clementi West, Dover, Jurong Pier and Toa Payoh
|Queenstown (co-located with Queenstown Neighbourhood Police Centre and Alexandra Fire Station)
|-
|2nd Division
|Covers the east of Singapore, including Changi Airport.
|Paya Lebar, Changi, Tampines, and Kallang
|Eunos, Marine Parade, Chai Chee, Upper Changi, Siglap (Ambulance Post), Pasir Ris and Joo Seng
|Tampines (co-located with Tampines Fire Station)
|-
|3rd Division
|Covers the north and northeast of Singapore including Pulau Ubin.
|Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Sengkang, and Punggol
|Nee Soon Central, Sembawang, Cheng San, and Braddell Heights
|Yishun (co-located with Yishun Fire Station)
|-
|4th Division
|Covers the west and northwest of Singapore.
|Jurong, Tuas, Woodlands, Bukit Batok, and Tuas View
|Jurong East, Jurong West, Tuas Checkpoint, Woodlands, Sungei Kadut, Bukit Panjang, Choa Chu Kang and Bukit Timah
|Bukit Batok (co-located with Bukit Batok Fire Station)
|-
|Marine Division (8th Division)
|Covers marine fire and rescue incidents.
|West Coast and Brani
|Gul and Loyang
|Pulau Brani (co-located with Brani Marine Fire Station)
|}
Specialist units
{| class="wikitable"
!Units
!Abbreviation
!Area of responsibility
|-
|Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team
|DART
|SCDF's elite team that specialises in complex incidents such as technical rescue, large-scale disasters and prolonged firefighting
|-
|Special Response Unit
|SRU
|Special Response Unit (SRU) specialises in decontamination, large fire, rescue operations, mass casualty ambulance conveyance, and provides additional manpower support to all operational divisions
|-
|Fire Investigation Unit
|FIU
|Fire Investigation Unit (FIU) is in-charge of conducting post-incident investigation to determine the probable causes of fire
|}
Training divisions
The Civil Defence Academy (CDA) conducts training for the various vocations and specialisations within the SCDF, including the Section Commander Course (SCC) and Rota Commander Course (RCC).
The National Service Training Centre (NSTC) conducts training for national servicemen. It consists of the Basic Rescue Training Branch (BRTB), which conducts basic training for new enlistees in basic rescue skills and fitness, and the In-Camp Training Branch (ICTB), which trains Operationally Ready NSmen. Tucked in a corner of NSTC is the Civil Defence Detention Barracks under the purview of the SCDF Provost Unit. Detainees from both SCDF and SPF are detained here throughout the duration of their detention. Subunits of the Provost Unit are also housed here.
The Home Team Tactical Centre provides an additional training ground for trainees to experience. It replaces the Mandai Training Village which has since been demolished.
List of appliances
The SCDF maintains a large fleet of custom-made vehicles (referred to as appliances) that are capable of mitigating a variety of incidents. Many of the appliances were designed and commissioned by the SCDF rather than ready-made designs.
Paramedical response vehicles
Ambulance
The ambulance forms the backbone of Singapore's medical emergency response capability and is the most widely deployed appliance. Ambulances are often referred to by their callsign, "Alpha." Each ambulance is staffed by up to 3 emergency medical technicians, one serves as a driver, and 1 paramedic. Medic trainees from the Singapore Armed Forces are also sent for attachment with these Ambulances. The latest 7th Generation ambulances comes with a self-decontamination system which is capable of decontaminating the ambulance when needed.
Medical Support Vehicle (MSV)
The Medical Support Vehicle (MSV) is a truck that is designed to provide on-site treatment capabilities for mass casualty incidents. On reaching the incident site, it is able to fold out and expand to form a mobile aid station, with up to 16 beds, to perform on-site stabilization and critical invasive medical treatment. When fully deployed, it is capable of treating a large number of patients simultaneously on an operating table that slides under its "wings". In addition, MSVs are loaded with a larger inventory of medical equipment, being able to treat up to 400 patients per vehicle, so as to manage mass-casualty incidents.
Firefighting appliances
alt=|thumb|A Fire Bike
Fire Bike
The Fire Bike, also known as the Red Scorpion, is a three-wheeled Piaggio MP3 that carries a single firefighter. They are able to navigate traffic to provide a faster initial response to emergencies. The Fire Bike carries a compressed air foam backpack which can extinguish handle smaller conflagrations such as household and vehicle fires. It is also equipped with an automated external defibrillator to respond to medical emergencies in concert with an ambulance.
Light Fire Attack Vehicle (LFAV)
thumb|5th Gen LFAV
The Light Fire Attack Vehicle (LFAV), also known as the Red Rhino, was first introduced in 2000. It is designed to be more compact than a traditional fire engine, allowing it to be stationed at a larger variety of locations.
The most recent iteration is the 6th generation, unveiled in 2022 at the SCDF Workplan Seminar. Instead of the traditional 4-man crew in the previous LFAV generations, the 6th generation carries a robot named the Red Rhino Robot (3R) which fits in the rear passenger compartment. The 3R conducts reconnaissance operations to locate the seat of fire through the use of thermal imaging and relay the information to the operator, who can then direct firefighting operations. The robot is able to mitigate a fire within confines of approximately 15m<sup>2</sup>.
Pump Ladder (PL)
thumb|Generation E of the SCDF Pump Ladder featuring a Compressed Air Foam (CAF) pump
The Pump Ladder (PL) is the workhorse fire engine of the SCDF. It carries 2,400 litres of water and 1,200 litres of foam, along with other rescue and firefighting equipment. The PL is also equipped to set up hasty decontamination facilities for a chemical incident. The decontamination lanes can be set up within four minutes, and each lane is able to decontaminate up to 36 walking casualties or six lying casualties per hour. The Generation E of the PL features a compress air foam pump.
Combined Platform-Ladder (CPL)
thumb|A Combined Platform Ladder (CPL)
The Combined Platform-Ladder (CPL) is a hydraulic ladder-platform truck which is used to conduct external firefighting and rescue operations involving high-rise buildings. There are several variants of CPL in SCDF, the largest being the CPL60 which can extend its platform ladder up to a maximum height of 60 metres, the equivalent of a 20-storey building. Its platform is equipped with a water monitor capable of discharging water at the rate of 3,800 litres per minute, and a rescue cage that can hold up to 500 kg.
Aerial Ladder (AL)
The Aerial Ladder (AL) is a ladder truck used in the SCDF for aerial firefighting and rescue. It has an operational height of 56 metres.
Fire and Rescue Operations Support Tender (FROST)
thumb|A combined Fire and Medical apparatus
The Fire and Rescue Operations Support Tender (FROST) is a support appliance that provides additional sets of self-contained breathing apparatus, thermal imaging cameras, gas detectors and smoke and water extraction functions to facilitate difficult or prolonged rescue operations.
It was designed to consolidate the functions of the previous Breathing Apparatus Tender (BAT) and Damage Control Tender (DCT), halving the total manpower needed for these functions from eight to four.
thumb|Bush FireFighting Module
Modular Oil Tank Firefighting System (MOTFS)
The Modular Oil Tank Fire-Fighting System (MOTFS) is an oil tank fire fighting system capable of discharging large volumes of foam for large-scale fires, up to 100,000 litres per minute. It is also capable of drafting water supply directly from open sources such as the sea or marine vessels. It is also designed in a modular form to speed up deployment to match the scale of the incident.
Pumper Firefighting Machine
The custom-built Pumper Firefighting Machine can traverse up and down a staircase, fit into passenger lifts and penetrate through premises with a maximum temperature of 250-degree Celsius for up to 10 minutes. Other unique features include a rotating nozzle that can project water mist in 360-degree angles to quickly lower room temperatures and a high pressure hose reel with a built-in water tank that can allow firefighters to quickly initiate firefighting operations at incidents. Its resistance to heat also means that firefighters will be less exposed to risk during firefighting operations.
Hazmat Control Vehicle
The Hazmat Control Vehicle carries a chemical detector to detect and monitor chemical release from up to 5 km away. It is also fitted with a launchpad for unmanned aerial vehicles to extend the range and altitude of its chemical detection capabilities.
Below is the breakdown of the missions:
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Disaster || Country/Territory || Year
|-
|Baguio City Earthquake || Baguio City, Philippines || Jul 1990
|-
|Highland Towers collapse || Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia || Dec 1993
|-
|Tai Chung County Earthquake || Taiwan || Sep 1999
|-
|Asian Tsunami Disaster || Aceh, Indonesia || Dec 2004
|-
|Asian Tsunami Disaster || Khao Lak, Thailand || Dec 2004
|-
|Sumatra Earthquake || Nias Island, Indonesia || Mar 2005
|-
|Rokan Hilir Bush Fires || Sumatra, Indonesia || Aug 2005
|-
|South Asian Earthquake || Muzaffarabad, Pakistan || Oct 2005
|-
|Central Java Earthquake || Central Java, Indonesia || May 2006
|-
|Sichuan Earthquake || Sichuan, China || May 2008
|-
|Padang City Earthquake || Sumatra, Indonesia || Oct 2009
|-
|Christchurch Earthquake || Christchurch, New Zealand || Mar 2011
|-
|Japan Earthquake || Soma City, Japan || Mar 2011
|-
|Malaysia, Flood || Kelantan, Malaysia || Dec 2014
|-
|Thailand, Forest Fire || Chiang Mai, Thailand || Mar 2015
|-
|Nepal Earthquake || Kathmandu, Nepal || May 2015
|-
|Australia Floods || New South Wales, Australia || 2022
|-
|Turkey Earthquake || Turkey/Syria || Feb 2023
|-
|Myanmar Earthquake || Naypyidaw, Myanmar || Mar 2025
|}
Ranks
;Officers
{| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;"
|- style="text-align:center;"
| rowspan=2| Singapore Civil Defence Force
| colspan=4 rowspan=2| <!--None-->
| colspan=2| 50px
| colspan=2| 50px
| colspan=1| 50px
| colspan=1| 50px
| colspan=2| 50px
| colspan=2| 50px
| colspan=2| 50px
| colspan=2| 50px
| colspan=3| 50px
| colspan=3| 50px
| colspan=6| 50px
| colspan=6| 50px
|- style="text-align:center;"
| colspan=2| Commissioner
| colspan=2| Deputy commissioner
| colspan=1| Senior assistant commissioner
| colspan=1| Assistant commissioner
| colspan=2| Colonel
| colspan=2| Lieutenant colonel
| colspan=2| Major
| colspan=2| Captain
| colspan=3| Lieutenant
| colspan=3| Second lieutenant
| colspan=12| Officer cadet
|}
;Warrant officers
{| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;"
|- style="text-align:center;"
| rowspan=2| Singapore Civil Defence Force was arrested on graft charges in connection with an IT contract. Lim was dismissed from service in August 2013. He was sentenced to jail for six months.
On 13 May 2018, full-time national serviceman Corporal Kok Yuen Chin drowned in a fire station's pump well during a ragging incident when his colleagues attempted to celebrate his transition to an operationally ready reservist. Those involved were arrested, charged in court and jailed. Two of them have been dismissed from service.
Deaths whilst on duty
In late January 2006, SGT Shaik Amran Bin Shaik Jamal from Woodlands Fire Station was killed in a traffic accident when the SCDF Light Fire Attack Vehicle or Red Rhino, was travelling fast towards Woodlands Square.
On 9 December 2022, full-time national serviceman Corporal Edward H Go (Chinese: 吴宏泽; pinyin: Wú Hóngzé) fell unconscious during a firefighting operation at a residential building in Bukit Merah; he was later pronounced dead in hospital. Reported by the press as being the first SCDF member to have died during an operation, Go was posthumously promoted to Sergeant(1) and granted a ceremonial funeral.
SCDF Commissioner Eric Yap paid tribute to SGT(1) Edward Go on his ceremonial funeral and said in his speech that he offered condolences to SGT(1) Go’s family, loved ones and friends, adding that his death has also hit those in the SCDF hard. "We will remember Sgt Edward’s selflessness, professionalism and commitment. For those of us who knew him personally, they will remember how proud he was to be a firefighter,” the commissioner added further.
On 16 May 2024, SCDF regular Captain Tay Xue Qin Kenneth (Chinese: 郑学勤; pinyin: Zhèngxuéqín), 30, who was assigned to SCDF Marine Division died while fighting a fire on a Chinese flagged supertanker ship, Sheng Hang Hua 6, that was anchored in the southwest of Singapore at 12:15 am. While the firefighting operation was ongoing, another team of firefighters entering the engine room to support the operation found Tay lying at the bottom of a ship staircase. Tay was evacuated by SCDF Marine Fire Vessel to Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal and conveyed by an SCDF ambulance to National University Hospital. He died at around 5:50am. He was reported in the media as the second SCDF personnel to have died during an operation & received a ceremonial funeral.
See also
- Civil defence by nation
- Civil Defence Auxiliary Unit
- Compulsory Fire Service
- National Service in Singapore
- National Civil Defence Cadet Corps
- SAMU, an equivalent organisation in France
References
;Citations
;Bibliography
- Joan Hon (1988). 100 Years of the Singapore Fire Service. Times Books International. .