Singapore Civil Defence Force

Singapore Civil Defence Force
Pasukan Pertahanan Awam Singapura
சிங்கப்பூர் குடிமைத் தற்காப்புப் படை
新加坡民防部队
Agency overview
Formed 1982
Preceding agency
  • Singapore Fire Service
Jurisdiction Government of Singapore
Headquarters 91 Ubi Ave 4, Singapore
Employees 5,600
Minister responsible
Agency executives
  • [1], Commissioner of SCDF
  • Comr Eric Yap Wee Teck
Parent agency Ministry of Home Affairs
Website www.scdf.gov.sg

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (abbreviation: SCDF; Chinese: 新加坡民防部队; Malay: Pasukan Pertahanan Awam Singapura; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் குடிமைத் தற்காப்புப் படை) is the main agency in charge of the provision of emergency services in Singapore during peacetime and emergency.

A uniformed organisation under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the main role of SCDF is to provide fire-fighting, rescue and emergency ambulance services; mitigating hazardous materials incidents, as well as formulate, implement and enforce regulations on fire safety and civil defence shelter matters.[2] It also plays a major role in the Republic's disaster relief operations. SCDF was classified as a heavy urban search and rescue (USAR) team by INSARAG on 18 January 2009, the highest level possible for any USAR team.[3]

History

Statue of firefighters in front of the Civil Defence Heritage Gallery, co-located with Central Fire Station

As early as 1855, Singapore's first Fire Committee was formed after a fire in Kling Street destroyed S$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. In 1888, the Singapore Fire Brigade was established and with sufficient funding, gained recognition as a fully equipped professional brigade. 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.[4]

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 Singapore Fire Service (SFS) became the official name for the brigade. In 1982, the National Civil Defence Plan was launched which spearheaded the emergency preparedness for the nation. With the enactment of the Civil Defence Act in 1986, the SCDF was established as an independent organisation under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). In the same year, the Hotel New World disaster paved the way for joint operations between the SCDF and Singapore Fire Service (SFS). Due to the similarity in roles and functions, the SCDF and SFS were formally integrated on 15 April 1989.[5]

The newly integrated SCDF mainly used facilities which were handed over from the Singapore Armed Forces or the Singapore Police Force. 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. The Force has been headed by Commissioner Eric Yap Wee Teck since February 2012.

Organisation structure

The SCDF is branched into six Operational and Training Divisions beneath the Headquarters Element. Of these six, four are known as Operational Divisions, also known as Territorial Divisions, and each cover vast sections of Singapore corresponding roughly to the four cardinal points of the compass. Each of the divisions possess their own bunkered and mobile Command Centres, Hazmat response capabilities, as well as full internal administration structures.

The two core training establishments, namely the Civil Defence Academy (CDA) and National Service Training Institute (NSTI), while not covering any territory or have any primarily operational concerns, are recognised as divisions unto themselves with full administration, supply and support units. These units, however, would become operationally active divisions in times of emergency or war.

With effect from 1 April 2012, SCDF has also established a dedicated unit - Civil Defence Marine Command (CDMC) and will be building up its capabilities and capacity to enhance response to marine fire and rescue incidents gradually. The CDMC commenced operations from the West Coast Marine Fire Station located at the existing base at West Coast Pier. In addition, the CDMC will also be operating from an interim base at Pulau Brani until the permanent base and headquarters is constructed there.

Headquarters

The administration office tower of HQ SCDF

The Headquarters complex of SCDF contains the Command Centre for all operations nationwide. It is co-located with the DART (Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team) Base, Central Supply Base and Paya Lebar Fire Station in a secured compound off Ubi Avenue 4. In addition to command and control, logistics, and operational facilities, HQ SCDF is also made up of an administration structure consisting of numerous staff departments. These staff departments, listed below, co-ordinate and carry out the administration of various key aspects of the force, under the command of the Commissioners and Department Directors.

Operational divisions

Central Fire Station, built in 1909, is Singapore's oldest fire station
Sengkang Fire Station, under the 3rd Civil Defence Division

List of fire stations

There are 20 fire stations including two marine stations

1st Division:

2nd Division:

3rd Division:

4th Division:

Marine Command:

Training divisions

Both the CDA and NSTI complexes are co-located in Choa Chu Kang, along Jalan Bahar.

Appliances

SCDF contingent during NDP 10 mobile column

The Singapore Civil Defence Force maintains a large fleet of custom-made vehicles (referred to as appliances) to provide an emergency response force capable of mitigating any and all kinds of fires and disasters. Ranging from the generic fire truck and ambulance, to more sophisticated mobile command structures and disaster mitigation vehicles such as Hazardous Materials (Hazmat) Pods, many of the appliances were designed and commissioned by the Force itself which prides itself in customising its own fleet as opposed to obtaining ready-made designs from industries. This is directed towards improving the Force's response capability towards an increasingly large variety of emergency scenarios and threats, in addition to basic firefighting and paramedical services, particularly in the Singapore context.

The following list of appliances is not exhaustive, and is grouped according to application as well as the order of scale of response capability.

Paramedical response vehicles

Firefighting appliances

SCDF's new fleet of 3-wheeler Fire Bikes
SCDF's latest Red Rhino v2.1 on the left, and v2.0 on the right
Generation E of the SCDF Pump Ladder featuring a CAF pump
A Combined Platform Ladder (CPL)

Hazmat appliances

Command elements

A Forward Command Vehicle (FCV) belonging to the 1st Civil Defence Division

Special vehicles

Operation Lionheart

SCDF maintains a rescue contingent on 24-hour standby under the codename Operation Lionheart to provide rescue and humanitarian assistance and support to countries stricken by major disasters. Since its formation in 1990, the Operation Lionheart contingent had responded to 16 overseas missions.[6]

Below is the breakdown of the missions:

DisasterCountryYear
Baguio City EarthquakeBaguio City, PhilippinesJul 1990
Highland Towers CollapseKuala Lumpur, MalaysiaDec 1993
Tai Chung County EarthquakeTaiwanSep 1999
Asian Tsunami DisasterAceh, IndonesiaDec 2004
Asian Tsunami DisasterKhao Lak, ThailandDec 2004
Sumatra EarthquakeNias Island, IndonesiaMar 2005
Rokan Hilir Bush FiresSumatra, IndonesiaAug 2005
South Asian EarthquakeMuzaffarabad, PakistanOct 2005
Central Java EarthquakeCentral Java, IndonesiaMay 2006
Sichuan EarthquakeSichuan, ChinaMay 2008
Padang City EarthquakeSumatra, IndonesiaOct 2009
Christchurch EarthquakeChristchurch, New ZealandMar 2011
Japan EarthquakeSoma City, JapanMar 2011
Malaysia, FloodKelantan, MalaysiaDec 2014
Thailand, Forest FireChiang Mai, ThailandMar 2015
Nepal EarthquakeKathmandu, NepalMay 2015

Ranks and badges

Ranks

These ranks feature the following charges:

The ranks are displayed here in descending order from highest seniority at the top to lowest at the bottom.

Commissioners

Commissioned Officers (Senior Officers)

Warrant Officers

Specialists (Junior Officers)

Section Commander Course & Rota Commander Course

Non-Commissioned Officers

Badges

The above badges are worn above the left breast pocket, higher up from service medals or ribbons, and typically identify personnel with major specialist training and/or experience. As there are a number of SCDF officers who were from SAF, these officers continue to don their SAF service medals or ribbons.

Specialist tabs

These specialist tabs bearing the titles are worn on the uniform top left sleeve. Gold and Silver Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) Badges that signify personnel with outstanding physical proficiency are worn on the left sleeve, beneath any Specialist title decorations.

In popular culture

Fictional television programs:

Controversies

In March 2016, SCDF Lieutenant-Colonel Goh Wee Hong was charged under the Protection from Harassment Act (Singapore) after unlawfully stalking a woman in August 2015. Goh can be fined up to $5,000 and jailed for up to 12 months.[7]

In October 2015, a former director Jeganathan Ramasamy of the SCDF was sentenced to 10 weeks’ jail for misappropriating two iPads in September 2011. He had allegedly assumed the two iPads obtained from SCDF vendors were for personal use, and had given one to his daughter and sold the other to another senior director Eric Yap Wee Teck.[8]

On 17 August 2015, SCDF serviceman Pte Shek Salmin Bin Murad committed suicide at around 1am because of an alleged abuse of authority by his superior, and problems he was facing at home. Shek alleged that he was given four days’ detention for being late; and a week or two after he was released from detention, he was charged for being late again, and was supposed to get charged on Monday 17 August, the date that he committed suicide.[9] SCDF extended condolences.[10]

SCDF Firefighter Hirahman Ramli, 29, was jailed two weeks after headbutting and punching Yam Kian Wing outside a petrol kiosk in Bukit Panjang Ring Road in August 2014.[11]

On 19 December 2011, former Chief of the Singapore Civil Defence Force Peter Lim Sin Pang[12] was arrested on graft charges in connection with the Prevention of Corruption Act relating to an IT contract.[13][14][15][16][17] Peter Lim Sin Pang was eventually dismissed from service formally in August 2013[18] and found guilty. He was granted early release from his six-month jail term but he was placed on home detention from 27 September 2013.[19]

See also

References

Citations
  1. "HQ SCDF - Key Appointment Holders". Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  2. SCDF Website - GENERAL: About Us
  3. Parliamentary Question Reply on Deployment of Volunteers as Overseas Missions Observers, 11 April 2011
  4. Singapore Fire Brigade
  5. SCDF Website - GENERAL: Milestones
  6. SCDF Website - NEWS: SCDF deploys rescuers to New Zealand
  7. Chong, Elena. "Ex-SCDF Lieutenant-Colonel charged with stalking woman". Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  8. Chelvan, Vanessa Paige. "10 weeks' jail for ex-SCDF director who misappropriated iPads". CNA. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  9. Xu, Terry. "SCDF NS serviceman allegedly committed suicide because of stress". The Online Citizen. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  10. "SCDF responds to online posting on NSF's alleged suicide". Stomp. 18 August 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  11. Chong, Elena. "Firefighter jailed for assaulting man in road rage". Straits Times. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  12. "Gallery: Corruption trial of ex-SCDF chief Peter Lim underway". MediaCorp Press Ltd. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  13. AsiaOne (14 February 2012). "Premature announcement would have compromised CPIB investigations: DPM Teo". AsiaOne.
  14. Chua Lee Hoong (28 January 2012). "Govt will follow through on CPIB probe into 2 top men: PM Lee". Straits Times.
  15. Toh Yong Chuan (28 January 2012). "CPIB probe: Duo facing civil service disciplinary proceedings as well". Straits Times.
  16. Leonard Lim (26 January 2012). "CPIB: Top men were arrested, being probed for graft". Straits Times.
  17. "Woman in centre of CPIB probe leads double life". AsiaOne. 28 January 2012.
  18. "Ex-SCDF chief Peter Lim dismissed from service". MediaCorp Press Ltd. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  19. Seow, Joanna. "Ex-civil defence chief Peter Lim granted early release from 6-month jail term". Straits Times. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
Bibliography
  • Joan Hon (1988). 100 Years of the Singapore Fire Service. Times Books International. ISBN 9971-65-513-6.

External links

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