Video Pattaya: Four hundred tourists evacuated as fire breaks out at Holiday Inn Express

[webfact]

Pattaya: Four hundred tourists evacuated as fire breaks out at Holiday Inn Express

 

Pictures: Ruksiamnews

 

Ruksiamnews reported that fire broke out at the Holiday Inn Express in Soi Bua Khao, Pattaya, around this morning. 

 

About 400 tourists - many children, the aged and handicapped - were evacuated by a combination of police, hotel security staff and members of the public. This was about 4.30 am. 

No one was reported injured and two fire engines brought the blaze under control in 30 minutes. 

 

Security guard Suphatchai Phanwilai, 29, said he noticed smoke around a balcony on the front of the building and immediately called the authorities. 

 

 

Initial investigations suggest that the fire started in the front of the building and did not spread to the main part of the eight story building.

 

Posters on the site suggested it was a relatively newly built hotel and the narrow soi made it difficult to put out the fire. 

 

An investigation is underway with the media saying that damage will run into millions of baht. 

 

Source: Ruksiamnews

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-12-06

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[JHolmesJr]

a miracle that no one was hurt.

I guess at 4.30am there was a lot of bonking going on.

so lots of alert guests

[toenail]

Glad it wasn’t the two Holiday Inn towers on Beach Rd ( more people). 

This building is new- what is the excuse? 

[MaxLee]

On 12/6/2019 at 10:33 AM, toenail said:

Glad it wasn’t the two Holiday Inn towers on Beach Rd ( more people). 

This building is new- what is the excuse? 

Face-ty first

Edited December 7, 2019 by blackcab
Bold font removed. Please do not modify someone else's post in your quoted reply, either with font or color changes or wording

[ChipButty]

I was staying in some 5 star hotel in England when the alarms went off at 2-30 am I can tell you it's not funny especially when your pi$$ ed from the night before and people are running around not know what to do, 

[sammieuk1]

Didn't realise there was 400 people here must be high season????

[bluesofa]

12 minutes ago, webfact said:

Posters on the site suggested it was a relatively newly built hotel and the narrow soi made it difficult to put out the fire. 

I take it they meant it was difficult for the fire engines to access the hotel due to the narrow soi.

Is this a case of ignoring safety concerns until something catastrophic happens?

[ChipButty]

Seems like they did a pretty good job at putting the fire out from what I can see none of the windows have blown out glass still intact

 

[sharecropper]

That looks like the cladding was on fire, like Grenfell Tower in the UK.

 

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

[BestB]

News is incorrect. One of the staff made a post on Facebook stating it took fire brigade 1 hour to arrive from the time they called, because they were all drinking and drunk. Staff claims initially it was small fire and if fireman arrived when called , it would have been contained , but because of delay, almost entire place burned down 

Edited December 6, 2019 by BestB

[BestB]

11 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Seems like they did a pretty good job at putting the fire out from what I can see none of the windows have blown out glass still intact

 

Take a closer look. Windows are burned out all the way to the top 

[BestB]

16 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

I take it they meant it was difficult for the fire engines to access the hotel due to the narrow soi.

Is this a case of ignoring safety concerns until something catastrophic happens?

They were drunk and it took over an hour to arrive . Soi Buakhao is big enough to fit a fire truck, no side streets as it’s built back to back and opened few months ago

 

watch and listen second video , whoever is filming saying already called fire department but no one coming 

Edited December 6, 2019 by BestB

[volsfan]

You can walk from the 3rd Rd Fire Station to there in 5 minutes. 

[BestB]

24 minutes ago, toenail said:

Glad it wasn’t the two Holiday Inn towers on Beach Rd ( more people). 

This building is new- what is the excuse? 

Looks like outside wires caught fire, maybe someone threw cig butt and got caught in the cables 

[PatOngo]

Will this affect the image of Pattaya?

[BestB]

2 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Will this affect the image of Pattaya?

Only if it had chinese guests but most are Indian , so image is safe????

[bdenner]

27 minutes ago, sharecropper said:

That looks like the cladding was on fire, like Grenfell Tower in the UK.

 

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

Agreed! Looks like the Thai building regulators (don't laugh) have not learnt from that and similar fires.

[Skallywag]

50 minutes ago, webfact said:

About 400 tourists - many children, the aged and handicapped - were evacuated

Wow - business very good at the Holiday Inn.  Though the photo only shows 30-40 people standing around in the street

 

[webfact]

400 people evacuated from hotel blaze in Pattaya

By THE NATION

 

 

Some 400 people were evacuated after a fire broke out at a Holiday Inn Hotel in Pattaya in the early hours of Friday (December 6), but no casualties were reported.

 

Officers from Pattaya Police Station were informed of the fire at Holiday Inn Hotel in Soi Buakhao, Nong Prue subdistrict in the Banglamung district at 4.30am. They rushed to the scene together with firefighters, disaster mitigation staff, rescue volunteers and a medical team from Muang Pattaya Hospital.

 

Officers and volunteers helped evacuate around 400 hotel guests and staff, including foreign tourists, children, elderly and disabled persons to safety, while firefighters spent 30 minutes using water cannons to subdue the blaze.

 

A hotel security guard said that he saw smoke coming from the balcony of a room on the front side of the building, and then the fire spread quickly due to strong winds.

 

A preliminary inspection by police officers said that the fire had occurred at the front part of the hotel while the central and rear parts were still intact. The cause of the fire will be further investigated while the damage was initially estimated at at least Bt1 million.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30379125

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-12-06

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[Matzzon]

49 minutes ago, BestB said:

News is incorrect. One of the staff made a post on Facebook stating it took fire brigade 1 hour to arrive from the time they called, because they were all drinking and drunk. Staff claims initially it was small fire and if fireman arrived when called , it would have been contained , but because of delay, almost entire place burned down 

Ok, and if it was seen when it was a small fire. Why did the personel not take care of it with fire estinguisher?

[CGW]

42 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Will this affect the image of Pattaya?

Obviously make it more desirable? or that is what "TAT" will spin 

[Khon Kaen Jeff]

<deleted>..I have already paid to stay here for 2 nights on the 17th through booking.com

 

Take it I need to contact them and look for somewhere else to stay? Typical as this was one of the rare times I paid up front for a room.

[petermik]

7 hours ago, Khon Kaen Jeff said:

<deleted>..I have already paid to stay here for 2 nights on the 17th through booking.com

 

Take it I need to contact them and look for somewhere else to stay? Typical as this was one of the rare times I paid up front for a room.

Temporary accommodation is being provided in the nissen huts currently going up....mixed dormitories and showering.....food carts will be on site to provide breakfast

[bluesofa]

54 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Will this affect the image of Pattaya?

Nah, just the image of the front of the hotel.

Edited December 6, 2019 by bluesofa

[AlexRich]

When you have a hotel full of "kids, aged, and handicapped", and someone leaves a box of matches around ... what do you expect? Simply asking for trouble.

[overherebc]

11 minutes ago, Matzzon said:

Ok, and if it was seen when it was a small fire. Why did the personel not take care of it with fire estinguisher?

Location of the fire maybe difficult to get to. Anyway what's more important, the guests or the building?

[Khon Kaen Jeff]

Keep hearing Pattaya is empty yet 400 tourists just in one hotel?

[bluesofa]

5 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Location of the fire maybe difficult to get to. Anyway what's more important, the guests or the building?

Not quite sure if that was a facetious question? If you own the hotel, then the building obviously.

[AlexRich]

8 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Location of the fire maybe difficult to get to. Anyway what's more important, the guests or the building?

 

TIT ... the building, of course!

 

[BestB]

31 minutes ago, Matzzon said:

Ok, and if it was seen when it was a small fire. Why did the personel not take care of it with fire estinguisher?

I have no idea but look video , appears fire started outside up by the wires/cables , possibly could not reach with extinguishers