Officials downplay Central World fire threat, but shopper warns against underestimating danger

[webfact]

Officials downplay Central World fire threat, but shopper warns against underestimating danger

By Pratch Rujivanarom 
The Nation 

 

An investigation team inspects damage from Wednesday’s fire at the CentralWorld complex in Bangkok yesterday.

 

THOUGH the fire on Wednesday did not damage the structure of CentralWorld department store which will resume business today, questions still remain regarding the safety of customers.

 

 

After inspecting the mall’s interior, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and Engineering Institute of Thailand (EIT) told reporters yesterday that the fire was likely caused by the combustion of gas in the mall’s waste-treatment facility on B2 floor, which then spread to the eighth floor via an air vent. 

 

However, a shopper slammed the mall operators for what he said was a dangerous underestimation of the situation and the too-slow evacuation of shoppers and staff. He said it would have been a bigger tragedy if the fire had got out of control.

 

Siriwat Chaichana, an adviser to EIT, said that though two people had been killed and more than 20 others injured, the team of engineers have concluded that the fire was not large enough to cause substantial damage to the building’s structure. 

 

 

Apart from the small fire-affected areas on B2 and the eighth floor, the mall can open for business as normal, the team said.

 

“After inspecting CentralWorld, it was found that the fire was too small and did not burn for long enough to affect the inside of the concrete structure, so the building is considered safe to open to the public again,” Siriwat said.

 

Amorn Pimanmas, secretary-general of the Council of Engineers, said the fire began at the waste-treatment facility room on the B2 floor, leading the team to conclude that the fire was sparked by the combustion of gas. 

 

As for why the fire was worse on the eighth floor, Amorn said that an air vent delivered the smoke and heat to the upper level, triggering a second fire outbreak there. 

 

Pathum Wan district chief Phinit Arayasilpathorn, meanwhile, said he has ordered the temporary closure of an 80-square-metre area on B2 floor and a 400sqm area on the eighth floor until the repairs are completed.

 

 

Phinit also assured that CentralWorld’s fire-alarm system is working properly, despite people in the mall during the incident saying the alarms did not sound promptly. 

 

“The department store is big and full of customers, so operators must consider preventing mass panic, which could harm more people than the fire itself. They gently alerted customers and guided them in an orderly manner to the exit,” he said.

 

However, Sansith Koraviyotin, who was at Central World during the fire, said there were no alerts, gentle or otherwise, and the mall operator underestimated the fire, which was very risky. 

 

“Even after I smelt smoke and people began to evacuate, many were still sipping their coffee, and nobody warned them of the danger and asked them to leave. People were still allowed to use the lifts,” Sansith said.

 

“Furthermore, I heard no sirens to warn people in the mall that there was a fire and that we were in danger!” 

 

He said that this time people were lucky, because the fire was not that severe, however, he cautioned that if response to emergency situations is so lackadaisical, a tragedy maybe inevitable in the future. 

 

 

Meanwhile, Police General Hospital reported that five of the 10 individuals injured in the fire had recovered and returned home yesterday. 

 

Labour Minister Adul Sangsingkaew said the families of the two victims will be compensated as per law. 

 

The family of Sakchai Chalernlarp, 37, will receive Bt1.42 million, and that of Arthit Kamsai, 41, Bt1.39 million. The sums will be presented to the victims’ families next Thursday. 

 

Meanwhile, 15 injured people will have their medical expenses covered by the Social Security Office and compensated according to the law, Adul said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30367572

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-04-12

[DoctorG]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The family of Sakchai Chalernlarp, 37, will receive Bt1.42 million, and that of Arthit Kamsai, 41, Bt1.39 million.

I can only assume that this is the actuarial calculation based upon their slight age difference.

[Borzandy]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Officials downplay Central World fire threat

Some Thai experts, Thai engineers downplay the fire threat but they are not living there. 

[neeray]

This situation has a striking resemblance to a couple of recent plane crashes. The first one produced many warning signs that went unheeded, hence, a second one.

Here, a small but significant fire produced warning signs but greed seems to dictate the ignoring of them.

[Phuketshrew]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

the fire was likely caused by the combustion of gas in the mall’s waste-treatment facility on B2 floor, which then spread to the eighth floor via an air vent. 

How can that possibly be safe?

[miamiman123]

They were still using the lifts??? Whoa big issue.

no damage to the structure from the fire?

uuumh guess you never heard about the fire in tower one on 911? 

[cornishcarlos]

1 hour ago, DoctorG said:

I can only assume that this is the actuarial calculation based upon their slight age difference.

 

Nah, it's calculated based on how many constituency seats, the party that they voted for won, divided by the available party list seats and then multiplied by a factor of "bs to the power 8".. I think ?

[jgarbo]

1 hour ago, Borzandy said:

Some Thai experts, Thai engineers downplay the fire threat but they are not living there. 

Is residence a condition of engineering expertise? 

[fxe1200]

48 minutes ago, miamiman123 said:

They were still using the lifts??? Whoa big issue.

no damage to the structure from the fire?

uuumh guess you never heard about the fire in tower one on 911? 

There should be no damage to the structure. I strongly doubt, that there is/was any thermite hidden within the steal framework of Central World, contrary to the World Trade towers.

[Booboo101]

Everytime I stay in Bangkok I wonder how long it will be before one of those enormous sky scrapers catches fire, as was shown this week the out of date fire trucks can’t even get to the fire through the permanently gridlocked roads, I can’t believe the firefighters have much training to cope with an 80 story tower block on fire, how do you get people down from the top floors when the ladders only reach the 15 th floor ?

its a disaster waiting to happen !  

[ToddinChonburi]

Gasoline on the 8th floor ?  is that correct.

[johng50]

Engineering institute of Thailand is the equivalent of a grade one 6 year old primary school class in western civilisation, actually they could probably advise the EIT on common sense, oh wait, how can you explain common sense to a Thai. 

[mok199]

Thailand ...where saving face is more important than saving lives...

[VocalNeal]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

He said it would have been a bigger tragedy if the fire had got out of control.

What if superman had worked for the Germans?

[Jimdandy]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

two people had been killed and more than 20 others injured,

 

7 hours ago, webfact said:

He said that this time people were lucky, because the fire was not that severe,

Lucky! What about the two deaths and 20 injuries!!!??? What do you call that! ALL fires are severe when it comes to large enclosed spaces... Note to self stay out of Central World, Terminal 21, Big C...

[Bangkok Barry]

35 minutes ago, Booboo101 said:

Everytime I stay in Bangkok I wonder how long it will be before one of those enormous sky scrapers catches fire, as was shown this week the out of date fire trucks can’t even get to the fire through the permanently gridlocked roads, I can’t believe the firefighters have much training to cope with an 80 story tower block on fire, how do you get people down from the top floors when the ladders only reach the 15 th floor ?

its a disaster waiting to happen !  

 

When what is now the Intercontinental Hotel caught fire people were airlifted off the roof by helicopter. I'm sure I remember seeing some actually hanging on to the runners rather than being inside the helicopter for the short lift across to the Police hospital.

As for the firefighters, I was told by a local that they are not 'career' firemen as in the real world, but are policemen told that they are going to be firemen. When the Central Chidlom interior was destroyed by fire it was largely because the security guards wouldn't let the firemen into the building 'as they would steal stuff'. One of those Only In Thailand things. Then there was the big fire at Siam Center.... Dangerous place, that stretch of downtown Bangkok.

[onekoolguy]

1 hour ago, fxe1200 said:

 

On 3/14/2019 at 7:42 AM, worgeordie said:

 

 

On 3/24/2019 at 2:52 PM, jvs said:

 

 I strongly doubt, that there is/was any thermite hidden within the steal framework of Central World, contrary to the World Trade towers.

Where did you hear thermite was there?

Kind of rediculous!

Edited April 12, 2019 by onekoolguy
Spelling

[Speedhump]

3 hours ago, DoctorG said:

I can only assume that this is the actuarial calculation based upon their slight age difference.

Did anyone ask? 

[Bangkok Barry]

Didn't I read that three people died, and now 'only' two did? How did that happen? Another case of officials here shooting their mouth off without knowing the facts?

[Jimbo1964]

Looks like the fire was in the ducting. I've seen HVAC ducting connected to Kitchen extractor ducting here in LoS. Meaning it could have been full of fat and oil. So I wonder if that was the fuel?

[fruitman]

I would feel better is a Western engineer team (or japanese) inspected the building and systems. Won't go there for a year now.

[zyphodb]

Thai engineering experts, an oxymoron if I ever heard one....

[overherebc]

59 minutes ago, onekoolguy said:

Where did you hear thermite was there?

Kind of rediculous!

Have to admit it made me smile as well. 

[JimSaints]

Other peoples lives - they couldn't care less

[Chongalulu]

29 minutes ago, zyphodb said:

Thai engineering experts, an oxymoron if I ever heard one....

Just the 2nd syllable applies...

[Syduan]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

The sums will be presented to the victims’ families next Thursday. 

An they'll make a show of it by giving them 4 ft by 2 ft cheques to prove how kind and considerate they are to their customers.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Couple of BAD issues...

 

--What word is notoriously, absolutely missing from the entire OP article???  SPRINKLERS!!!!!  Not a single mention, if they had, didn't have, and if they had, why they didn't seem to work.

 

--if the fire was caused by garbage gas, ZERO mention of anything being done to prevent the same kind of problem from occurring in the future. Just paint, patch over, and reopen everything.... until next time.

 

--No mention of the time delays that BMA emergency service personnel had in reaching the scene due to traffic congestion, and of course, nothing will be done to address that either.

 

Money first, safety last here.

 

 

 

 

[fxe1200]

4 hours ago, onekoolguy said:

Where did you hear thermite was there?

Kind of rediculous!

I know it sounds ridiculous. I did not believe it in the first place, but the evidence speaks for itself. The presence of thermite has never been officially denied. Nests of molten steel were still active in the ground for about a week after the collapse, at temperatures which can never be reached by burning kerosene. Then try to explain the collapse of WTC 7, Two planes, but three buildings collapsed, The WTC 7 was never ever mentioned in the official report. Why? Find the truth by yourself. Here is one example, there are zillions of documents available, and those are not written by clowns:

 

[natway09]

Need to have a good look at the mechanical ventilation from the sewerage collection areas

or will just happen again 

[hotchilli]

8 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

How can that possibly be safe?

Because this is Thailand.