A fire in an electrical equipment room at Orchard Gateway sent smoke through the linked mall and MRT walkway on Monday, prompting police to evacuate about 100 people before Singapore Civil Defence Force officers extinguished the flames, the agency said.
How the blaze started
SCDF said it was alerted at about 5:40 p.m. to 277 Orchard Road, the address of the twin-tower mall that connects to Somerset station. The fire involved electrical equipment in an equipment room on basement two. Crews put it out using a compressed air foam backpack and portable extinguishers without reporting injuries.
When reporters arrived around 6 p.m., shutters between the MRT link and the mall were down and a smell of smoke lingered in the open plaza. By 7 p.m., multiple fire appliances and police cars remained outside while investigators began determining whether the fault originated in switchgear, cabling, or an overheated transformer.
Evacuation and access
Police evacuated shoppers and tenants as a precaution even though SCDF said no other casualties were reported. Underground links that shoppers use to move between Orchard Gateway and neighboring malls were temporarily closed, disrupting dinner-hour foot traffic along Singapore’s main retail strip.
Management at Orchard Gateway had not released a reopening schedule by late evening. Tenants in the basement food hall and service corridors typically rely on the affected equipment room for ventilation controls, so engineers may need to isolate circuits before normal trading resumes.
Context on Orchard Road
The incident came one week after a separate fire in the locker room at Kinokuniya’s flagship store inside Ngee Ann City, also on Orchard Road. That blaze forced a bookstore evacuation on 2 November but likewise ended without injuries. Retail landlords along the corridor have been reminding tenants to check electrical cabinets after heavy air-conditioning loads during the year-end shopping season.
SCDF said the cause of Monday’s fire remains under investigation. Statutory boards that oversee mall safety require owners to submit maintenance logs for basement plant rooms; any failure to meet those schedules can factor into enforcement after significant incidents.
What comes next
Investigators will interview facilities staff and review closed-circuit footage from basement loading bays. If damaged switchgear must be replaced, partial closures could extend into Tuesday morning, affecting brands that depend on basement storage. Shoppers were urged to use official SCDF and police channels rather than unverified social posts about additional threats.
For Orchard Gateway, the priority is certifying that escalators, smoke compartments, and sprinkler zones are fully operational before lifting the evacuation order. Neighboring malls may see higher crowds while the complex is partially shuttered, a pattern Singapore retailers often manage during short safety shutdowns in the city center.
SCDF said it would release further updates once investigators finish examining the damaged equipment room.