Fire At Sattahip Market Causes Over 40 Million Baht Loss

[mcd]

Thousand of people ran for their lives when a fire erupted at Sattahip Market. The fire originated at an old wooden house by the sea which was being used as a computer game shop. Strong winds caused the fire to spread to Sattahip Market.

Thai Navy provided a helicopter and an engine boat to help and several fire brigades rushed to Sattahip to put out the fire. Over forty houses caught fire, with damages totalling over 40 million baht. There were no reports of loss of life or injury.

On 17 August 2007, at 1:30 PM, Police.Sub.Lietuenant Rewat Pissora, from the Sattahip Police Station, was notified that a fire erupted at Sattahip Market, near a seaside community. A team of Sattahip police rushed to the scene.

The fire was at the seaside community along the Sattahip Beach Road. Most of houses were wooden structures which were built next to each other; more than 60 houses in all. They covered an area of 1.5 kilometers. The over two-hundred wooden houses were built on stilts stretching over the sea.

Forty of the houses caught on fire. Police officers immediately coordinated with the Sattahip Fire Brigades Department, the Sattahip Navy, the Navy Air Force, the Pattaya Fire Department and the Rayong Fire Department. More than forty fire brigades responded to battle the fire, as well as, a helicopter that was flying over the area to check the weather and assist the fire departments. It took more than three hours to bring the fire under control. The fire brigades had difficulty to putting out the fire due to strong winds.

The fire started on the second floor of the Game and Net Shop, a wooden shop house next to Chaiporn Drug Store. The fire spread quickly to nearby houses, as they were all wooden structures. Mr. Kittiwat Sriwong, (46), the community leader, told officers that he was about ten houses away from the fire and immediately shouted out to people to report it to the fire department. Due to the strong winds, the fire spread quickly and damaged more than forty houses.

Later, at 3:30 PM. Mr. Pragit Rojanadilok, District Chief-Officer, with his team, navy officers and Mr. Phairote Malakul Na Ayuthaya, Mayor of Sattahip, along with local authorities, rushed to the scene of the fire. Mr. Pragit said that Sattahip District will set up a temporary administration to help the victims at Sattahip Temple and will report to Mr. Pracha Tar-e-Rat, Mayor of Chonburi Province for further assistance.

Police officers suspect that the cause of fire was from an electrical short circuit but will work with Chonburi experts to determine the actual cause. Damages from the fire amounted to approximately fifty million baht. Fortunately, there were no reports of death or injury.

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.p...NEWS=0000003666

[markr]

This is devastating news as sattahip is my home town in thailand.

My family live very near by, I hope there are few casualties.

Mark