Pattaya hotel blaze triggers stampede for exits

[webfact]

Pattaya hotel blaze triggers stampede for exits

By The Nation

 

Picture: Channel 3

 

A fire at a well-known hotel in Pattaya’s Jomtien Beach caused panic in the early hours of Wednesday as guests were plunged into darkness and corridors began filling with smoke.

 

The Pattaya police station was alerted that a blaze had broken out at 1.30am at the Grand Jomtien Palace Hotel in Tambon Nong Plue of Chon Buri's Bang Lamung district.

 

The fire caused a blackout inside the hotel, which began filling with smoke, panicking hotel guests and prompting many to flee outside on their own.

 

Picture: Channel 3

 

Fire-fighters evacuated the remaining guests and then took about an hour to put out the blaze inside the power control room on the 12th floor.

 

No injuries were reported.

 

Police suspect the fire was caused by a short circuit.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30357567

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-10-31

[darksidedog]

No emergency lighting, no fire evacuation procedures or practiced fire drill, just pandemonium and chaos. Welcome to the tourist friendly disaster waiting to happen. Such disregard of safety is how disasters happen and there are a long row of bodies across the country to prove it. Very fortunate this didn't end badly.

[petermik]

7 hours ago, darksidedog said:

No emergency lighting, no fire evacuation procedures or practiced fire drill, just pandemonium and chaos. Welcome to the tourist friendly disaster waiting to happen. Such disregard of safety is how disasters happen and there are a long row of bodies across the country to prove it. Very fortunate this didn't end badly.

What else do you expect....we are in Thailand where Health and Safety is far less important than the price of somtam

[SidJames]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/hotel-blamed-as-fire-kills-78-at-thai-beach-resort-1250217.html

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWg-mgR-EK8

 

If I remember correctly it was reported that fire exit doors had been chained & padlocked.

They found a couple of groups of bodies huddled together at these locked fire doors but no one was brought up on any charges.

Edited October 31, 2018 by SidJames

[PREM-R]

TAT statement..... "This will not affect tourism in Thailand"

[Basil B]

1 hour ago, SidJames said:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/hotel-blamed-as-fire-kills-78-at-thai-beach-resort-1250217.html

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWg-mgR-EK8

 

If I remember correctly it was reported that fire exit doors had been chained & padlocked.

They found a couple of groups of bodies huddled together at these locked fire doors but no one was brought up on any charges.

more like 91... 

 

Story was the owners were out the country before they had the fire under control.

 

Wonder how things have changed in 20 years???

Quote

Inadequate fire training contributed to the initial spread of the fire; according to witnesses who spoke to The Nation, employees in the kitchen and coffee-house had failed to use one of the few chemical extinguishers appropriately and eventually left it to be consumed by the fire, causing a further explosion.

The official emergency response was delayed by connection issues and bureaucracy. According to the then guest relations manager of the hotel, she had attempted to call the Pattaya Fire Department and, after several issues, was only connected 15 minutes later. Witnesses who spoke to the Pattaya Times indicated the first emergency personnel had taken over 30 minutes to arrive, and the local firefighters that were in attendance lacked the appliances or equipment to reach people on the higher floors. Only two to four hours after ignition did appliances and equipment adequate for fighting fires in high-rise buildings arrive from Bangkok. The arrival of the Bangkok fire appliances was delayed in part by a traffic accident in Chachoengsao that killed 11 civilian volunteers who had also been traveling to the scene of the fire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Jomtien_Resort_Hotel_fire

 

[Basil B]

4 hours ago, darksidedog said:

No emergency lighting, no fire evacuation procedures or practiced fire drill, just pandemonium and chaos. Welcome to the tourist friendly disaster waiting to happen. Such disregard of safety is how disasters happen and there are a long row of bodies across the country to prove it. Very fortunate this didn't end badly.

"there are a long row of bodies across the country to prove it."

102 just up the road if you count the 11 volunteer fire fighters who perished on route... 

Edited October 31, 2018 by Basil B

[LennyW]

1 hour ago, SidJames said:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/hotel-blamed-as-fire-kills-78-at-thai-beach-resort-1250217.html

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWg-mgR-EK8

 

If I remember correctly it was reported that fire exit doors had been chained & padlocked.

They found a couple of groups of bodies huddled together at these locked fire doors but no one was brought up on any charges.

Exact same thing went through my mind when i read the headline, for many of us that were here then it was horrific!

[natway09]

Lucky the fire exits not padlocked. They usually are

[Mac98]

"You have come to a dangerous place." But, "No one must know."

[PhilippBKK]

Close call and emphasizes the need for proper fire drills.

It's not 1997 anymore

[Jonmarleesco]

5 hours ago, PREM-R said:

TAT statement..... "This will not affect tourism in Thailand"

There's a 'W' missing somewhere.

[Jonmarleesco]

15 minutes ago, PhilippBKK said:

Close call and emphasizes the need for proper fire drills.

It's not 1997 anymore

We're in Thailand where some aspects are still in 1967.

[ThreeEyedRaven]

4 hours ago, Basil B said:

"there are a long row of bodies across the country to prove it."

102 just up the road if you count the 11 volunteer fire fighters who perished on route... 

Are you on the same page here? Darksidedog was talking about the fire this morning and you are quoting him with the death statistics from the tragic fire there 21 years ago? No one died today, which was fortunate. Clearly the hotel though has learnt very little from the previous fire.

[RichardColeman]

5 hours ago, PREM-R said:

TAT statement..... "This will not affect tourism in Thailand"

And we have lots of amulets to back this up

[essox essox]

4 hours ago, Basil B said:

more like 91... 

 

Story was the owners were out the country before they had the fire under control.

 

Wonder how things have changed in 20 years???

 

so where was the Pattaya fire brigade??

[oldrunner]

Thai Officialdom have a plethora of excuses on permanent standby for any unseen event, from fire doors not available, brakes failed, driver fled the scene, hotel emergency lights tested just yesterday and worked, no emergency lights, fire extinguishers stolen by staff, automatic fire suppression units not available in electrical power unit, no, you may not have a first floor room, etc..

[atyclb]

11 hours ago, darksidedog said:

No emergency lighting, no fire evacuation procedures or practiced fire drill, just pandemonium and chaos. Welcome to the tourist friendly disaster waiting to happen. Such disregard of safety is how disasters happen and there are a long row of bodies across the country to prove it. Very fortunate this didn't end badly.

 

\

dress rehearsal for the next chinese disaster

[Tailwagsdog]

Always check your exit strategy and never go above the 4th floor where the ladders can't reach

[Andycoops]

One reason to always book a low floor room.

[joebrown]

This reminds me of a Fire Officer & team's visit to my Jomtien condo about 1 year after construction had finished.

The meeting for condo occupants was held in a ground floor office, next to the main car park. We were shown a fire safety movie, and then taken outside where the team spent about an hour demonstrating how a fire burning from a gas cylinder nozzle could be extinguished by hand.

Maybe the Fire Officer wasn't aware of the normal condo rule whereby gas cylinders were prohibited because of their fire risk. He also failed to notice that we had just left a room where the smoke detector in the ceiling (directly within his sight) still had the plastic cover on it to prevent damage and/or dust penetration during construction.

As a Management Committee member I had previously drawn the attention of the Condo builders to the fact that not all fire alarms were sounding when tested, and shown them numerous  fire doors that couldn't be completely closed. Despite several promises to rectify these faults nothing had been done.

With these issues in mind I spoke directly to the Fire Officer who said it was not his responsibility and said I should refer back to the builders for remedial action!

My conclusion was that 2 hours of condo owners' time had been wasted and the fire teams' visit was for show, judging by the number of photos they had taken with themselves as the center of attention!

Edited November 1, 2018 by joebrown
change smoke alarm to detector

[MyFriend You]

On 10/31/2018 at 3:36 AM, darksidedog said:

No emergency lighting, no fire evacuation procedures or practiced fire drill, just pandemonium and chaos. Welcome to the tourist friendly disaster waiting to happen. Such disregard of safety is how disasters happen and there are a long row of bodies across the country to prove it. Very fortunate this didn't end badly.

Our Condo complex in Jom Tien has a fire drill about once a month, they even shut down the elevators, have the security guys pull the fire hoses out of the cabinets, knock on al the doors, the alarms are so excrutiating  loud that you couldn't stay in your apartment if you wanted too.  This is all because some drunk (crazy)Scandanavian set fire to a Russians apartment door once, and the neighbors couldn't get the hose out because the cabinet was locked.  A big former US marine tore the whole thing off the wall and got the fire out.

[greenbottle555]

Well, all countries have bad and recent history regarding fire codes. America had a concert where exactly 100 people died, Bangkok had a similar body count recently. It all comes down to fire codes being followed by humans, and no nation gets a free pass when it comes to accidents happening. Historically speaking (recent history), fires are worse in crowded night venues.

[InfinityandBeyond]

On 10/31/2018 at 5:43 PM, Jonmarleesco said:

We're in Thailand where some aspects are still in 1967.

Indeed! 1967 B.E. (Buddhist Era). 

[elgenon]

I wonder what % of hotels have smoke alarms.

 

The one I stay at in Patts does but the famous one I stay at in BKK doesn't.

[AlexCanada]

1 hour ago, elgenon said:

I wonder what % of hotels have smoke alarms.

I have my own personal smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector.  I don't trust any alarm system in a Thailand building.

[elgenon]

19 hours ago, AlexCanada said:

I have my own personal smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector.  I don't trust any alarm system in a Thailand building.

Good idea! Bring bolt cutters too for the exit doors.