Fire At Wat San Pakoi Destroys Assistant Abbot’s Historic Residence

[ChiangMaiMail]

Fire at Wat San Pakoi destroys assistant abbot’s historic residence

Firefighters battle the blaze at Wat San Pakoi on February 7.

Supoj Thiamyoj

Historic teak buildings burned to the ground in a fire that firefighters believe was started by an electrical fault at Wan San Pakoi in Wat Ket, north of the Kawila military camp. The fire, which broke out at 5:20 pm on February 7, destroyed the assistant abbot’s residence, built in 1839 and spread to a historic teak bell tower, other monks’ residences and another tower in the Wat. The narrow lanes into the temple made entrance for the 20 fire trucks from Chiang Mai Municipality and Kawila Army camp slow and difficult, taking 3 hours to bring the fire under control. Traffic was stalled on the road outside the temple for several hours while firefighters battled the blaze.

Fortunately, the assistant abbot, Phra Kru Rattana Sutasoonthorn, was away from the temple so avoided the fire, but he said several antique and gold Buddha images were lost and many of the temple’s important documents and items of value were destroyed in the fire. Damages are estimated in the tens of millions of baht. Forensic investigators from the fire department will continue to probe the cause of the fire and determine accurate losses.

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-- Chiang Mai Mail 2010/02/16

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Edited February 16, 2010 by ChiangMaiMail