1 killed, 5 injured in Bangkok shop house fire

A woman suffocated and five others were injured when a fire broke out at a shop house building in Bangkok's Bang Khen district Friday morning.

The blaze broke out at 5 am at a building on Soi Chokdee 2 near Big C Saphan Mai branch.

Fire fighters backed up by 10 fire engines took about half an hour to put out the blaze while six people were trapped inside the three-storey building.

Some survivors escaped by jumping off the balcony of the second floor.

The body of Sirinthip Saengsuwan, 47, was found near a window on the second floor.

She called for help but fire fighters could not take her out as the window was blocked with curved steel to prevent burglary.

The injured were identified as Chanikar Saengsuwan, 7, Sorawit Saengsuwan, 14, Widej Tolek, 47, Sanit Kliengkhao, 69, and Lamchiak Tolek, 73.

They were sent to the Central General Hospital.

-- The Nation 2009/12/11

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How awful.

Those bars at the windows "to prevent burglaries" always scare me, I suppose it's a balance between the risk of burglary and the risk of being trapped in a fire.

RIP what a horrible way to go.

Unfortunately security window bars are a necessary evil. We’ve had a couple of attempted break-ins, once while we were at home.

Our grilles are hinged and padlocked. Even with regular oiling the padlocks seize so we now keep a small pair of bolt croppers conveniently located near the grilles but out of intruders reach and sight.

The croppers are small enough for each family member to use with the padlocks positioned so they can easily be gripped and cut from the inside. 120 Baht for bolt croppers I think is a good investment.

This happened just down the road from where I live. While I was walking the Missus to the bust stop this morning, we watched several ambulances and emergency vehicles come rushing down the road leading to Big C. What a terrible way to die, being trapped inside a burning building while people are trying to rescue you.

Our house also has burglar bars, and the Missus is always shutting and locking doors, even though I tell her that in the event of a fire, we're going to be in danger. But to her, keeping the "ghosts" out of the house is more important.