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EV Fire Destroys House in Khon Kaen

An electric vehicle (EV) was involved in a fire while charging and the blaze spread to a house in Khon Kaen province on Tuesday morning 16 June 2026, causing extensive damage and forcing four residents to flee for safety.

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The fire broke out at about 6am at house number 9/2109 in tambon Muang Kao, Muang district, Khon Kaen. Firefighters from Khon Kaen Municipality and Muang Kao Municipality responded to the scene and spent more than an hour bringing the fire under control.

Authorities found a badly damaged white BYD Dolphin electric car, registration number from Khon Kaen, parked in the driveway. The vehicle had been charging when the fire started. Flames rapidly spread from the car to the house, causing severe damage to both the vehicle and the property.

Homeowner Setthaphat Kaewfainok, 46, said he had parked the electric vehicle at the house and connected it to a charging unit outside the property before the incident. He later heard sounds resembling a fire breaking out and alerted other occupants.

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The four people inside the house rushed outside and discovered the vehicle engulfed in flames. Mr Setthaphat contacted emergency services while all four residents evacuated as the fire spread quickly and consumed much of the building.

Fire crews worked for more than an hour to extinguish the blaze, using water hose-lines. By the time the fire was brought under control, the house had suffered severely damageand the BYD Dolphin had been destroyed.

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Pictures courtesy of Daily News

The incident follows growing attention on electric vehicle fire safety, particularly in cases involving vehicles connected to charging equipment. However, authorities have not yet determined the cause of the Khon Kaen fire.

Daily News reported that police and forensic investigators are examining the scene to establish the origin of the blaze and whether it began in the vehicle, charging equipment or another source. No injuries were reported.

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image.png Adapted by ASEAN Now Dailynews 17 June 2026

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tomazbodner Ruby Member

tomazbodner

Advanced Member
17 hours ago, rocketboy2 said:

My money is on Somchai's, DIY wiring skills.

Probably using a charger that plugs into 16A (maybe 2x 16A) sockets, which may have overloaded improperly fused wiring, caused the cables to heat up, melt insulation, and short circuit resulting from that would do the rest. For most things Thais (used to use) the existing wiring in older houses was "ok" but whenever adding something power hungry like airconditioners or water heaters, you'd always see technicians install their own fuses and cabling to the fuse box, not trusting existing wires. With EV cars, the included charger looks too convenient - it just plugs into existing sockets. But, if those sockets are connected to substandard wiring... well, then this happens.

Photoguy21 Platinum Member

Photoguy21

Advanced Member
On 6/17/2026 at 8:32 AM, JBChiangRai said:

Your ICE car is a dozen times more likely to catch fire and over a hundred times more likely if it’s one of those hybrids.

Not sure what medication you are on but I suggest you stop taking it.

metisdead Legendary Member

A low value post has been removed:

  1. Low-Value Posts - Posts that add no written contribution are not allowed.

    This includes emoji-only replies, very short comments, memes, GIFs, screenshots, or embedded social media posts without explanation or opinion.

motdaeng Gold Member

motdaeng

Advanced Member
31 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

On 6/17/2026 at 8:32 AM, JBChiangRai said:

Your ICE car is a dozen times more likely to catch fire and over a hundred times more likely if it’s one of those hybrids.

30 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

Not sure what medication you are on but I suggest you stop taking it.

it doesn't surprise me that some ev critics still don't know that ICE vehicles experience far more fires than BEV there are numerous statistics and studies from different countries showing the same trend. and no, you don't need to be on any medication to read and understand them. 😉

https://insideevs.com/news/561549/study-evs-smallest-fire-risk/

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Photoguy21 Platinum Member

Photoguy21

Advanced Member
1 hour ago, motdaeng said:

it doesn't surprise me that some ev critics still don't know that ICE vehicles experience far more fires than BEV there are numerous statistics and studies from different countries showing the same trend. and no, you don't need to be on any medication to read and understand them. 😉

https://insideevs.com/news/561549/study-evs-smallest-fire-risk/

20260618.png

LPG cars are a real hazard. No one I know who like myself work in the O&G industry would ever consider buying an LPG vehicle.

flaming dragon Gold Member

flaming dragon

Advanced Member
15 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

We’re coming to the end of a 4,000km road trip in Thailand. Almost every PTT station has a few chargers, no need to plan your charging at all.

The infrastructure for EVs in Thailand is amazing, as it is for driving in general. The PTT/7-11/Amazon Coffee stations are like an oasis when I road trip on my scooter. The bathrooms are immaculate and I've never seen junkies hanging about like they do just about everywhere in Canada.

OK, back to the original subject. People who live in row houses could end up killing their neighbours as well as themselves with shoddy wiring on an EV charger.

motdaeng Gold Member

motdaeng

Advanced Member
On 6/18/2026 at 11:17 AM, Photoguy21 said:

LPG cars are a real hazard. No one I know who like myself work in the O&G industry would ever consider buying an LPG vehicle.

i think you completely misunderstood the graphic "car fires by vehicle type"...

when americans say "gas car", they mean a gasoline (petrol) car, not an LPG vehicle... 555

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Photoguy21 Platinum Member

Photoguy21

Advanced Member
On 6/19/2026 at 3:24 PM, motdaeng said:

i think you completely misunderstood the graphic "car fires by vehicle type"...

when americans say "gas car", they mean a gasoline (petrol) car, not an LPG vehicle... 555

20260619.png

And these figures are out of a total of what? Does this also include vehicles deliberately set on fire? A number means very little unless the basis of the number is clearly defined.

JBChiangRai Diamond Member

JBChiangRai

Advanced Member
51 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

And these figures are out of a total of what? Does this also include vehicles deliberately set on fire? A number means very little unless the basis of the number is clearly defined.

The same methodology of data collection is applied to each category.

It’s also backed up by similar statistics from other countries.

Facts are facts.

Photoguy21 Platinum Member

Photoguy21

Advanced Member
On 6/21/2026 at 2:48 PM, JBChiangRai said:

The same methodology of data collection is applied to each category.

It’s also backed up by similar statistics from other countries.

Facts are facts.

Collecting numbers is fine but do the numbers also give the reason why they went on fire?

JBChiangRai Diamond Member

JBChiangRai

Advanced Member
12 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

Collecting numbers is fine but do the numbers also give the reason why they went on fire?

You might be able to search that, in general I suspect they don’t.

Photoguy21 Platinum Member

Photoguy21

Advanced Member
2 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

You might be able to search that, in general I suspect they don’t.

It would be typical of the reports. Big headlines but no details.

matchar Advanced Member

matchar

Member
On 6/21/2026 at 2:48 PM, JBChiangRai said:

The same methodology of data collection is applied to each category.

It’s also backed up by similar statistics from other countries.

Facts are facts.

But I'm guessing nearly all of those ICE fires occurred while the engine was running.

The chance of an ICE car spontaneously catching fire overnight must be close to zero.

The chance of an EV catching fire overnight while charging is fairly low but it's not zero.

NanLaew Star Member

NanLaew

Advanced Member
6 hours ago, Photoguy21 said:

It would be typical of the reports. Big headlines but no details.

It appears that you still believe EV are more prone to fires than ICE vehicles? This despite a couple of posts that clearly state what the numbers are based on, with links to the source.

Why does the cause of the fire sway your impaired judgement? A fire is a fire.

A fairly recent fire on a car carrier was quickly blamed on the EV's that were part of the cargo, whereas the reality was the fire started in some old, used, second-hand, pre-owned ICE vehicles that were also on the manifest. They hadn't been drained of hydrocarbon-based combustibles and tanks and engines properly vented per the regulations for shipping used "conventional" vehicles. Spark...boom!

Selatan Advanced Member

Selatan

Advanced Member
3 hours ago, matchar said:

But I'm guessing nearly all of those ICE fires occurred while the engine was running.

The chance of an ICE car spontaneously catching fire overnight must be close to zero.

The chance of an EV catching fire overnight while charging is fairly low but it's not zero.

Over here in Malaysia, we have many incidences of parked ICE spontaneously catching fire. A week ago, 3 ICEs (a Toyota, a BMW and a Honda) caught fire at a Lotus supermarket in KL. Fire was believed to have started from the Toyota Velfire.

Furioso Silver Member

Furioso

Advanced Member

This proves EV's are unsafe.

JBChiangRai Diamond Member

JBChiangRai

Advanced Member
6 hours ago, Furioso said:

This proves EV's are unsafe.

You’re in the wrong side of history and look like a Richard

matchar Advanced Member

matchar

Member
9 hours ago, Selatan said:

Over here in Malaysia, we have many incidences of parked ICE spontaneously catching fire. A week ago, 3 ICEs (a Toyota, a BMW and a Honda) caught fire at a Lotus supermarket in KL. Fire was believed to have started from the Toyota Velfire.

The Vellfire is a hybrid is it not? Perhaps the hybrid battery caught fire...

JBChiangRai Diamond Member

JBChiangRai

Advanced Member
51 minutes ago, matchar said:

The Vellfire is a hybrid is it not? Perhaps the hybrid battery caught fire...

Hybrids are 130 times more likely to catch fire than EV’s.

matchar Advanced Member

matchar

Member
7 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

Hybrids are 130 times more likely to catch fire than EV’s.

Those figures probably aren't very reliable since I doubt they take into account various factors like vehicle age, modifications and maintenance. Correlation does not mean causation after all.

It sounds like the Vellfire Malaysia fire was probably unrelated to the fuel system anyway but due to electrical modifications:

"Aftermarket Accessories & Wiring Defects: The Vellfire is a highly customized vehicle in Malaysia. Independent discussions regarding local car park fires indicate that faulty or overloaded sound systems, non-standard ambient lighting, and electronic modifications bypass factory fuses and frequently trigger engine bay short circuits."

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