An officer with the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is expected to plead guilty after a young national serviceman, who was left alone during a 2022 flat fire, died.
ChannelNewsAsia reports that SCDF Warrant Officer 2 Muhammad Kamil Mohamed Yasin will plead guilty to the charge of causing grievous hurt by a rash act endangering life or personal safety early next year.
Yasin, 39, was working a Dec. 8, 2022 fire with full-time national serviceman (firefighter) Sergeant 1 Edward H Go, in which Go suffocated when his SCBA cylinder ran empty.
Go was found unconscious and later died in the hospital.
Yasin was charged after an investigation found that he left Go inside the building alone, and did not let others know, which broke SCFD's policies.
In August 2023, Yasin was placed in an administrative role. He was suspended from the force in October 2023 but is still being compensated. He is currently out on bail.
Officials say he faces up to four years in prison, or a fine of $7,500 USD.
A second SCDF officer was investigated and later returned to regular duties.
Go was posthumously promoted to Sergeant 1.
After the fire, SCDF updated its training policies for incident commanders and fireground operations.
A new policy requires a fireground accountability officer and a member to check turnout gear before firefighters enter hazardous structures at lesser incidents.
