Shoppers Flee Fire At Central Bang Na

[Lite Beer]

Shoppers flee fire at Central Bang Na

By Monthien Inthuket

The Nation on Sunday

A fire broke out on the seventh floor of the Central Bang Na shopping mall late yesterday afternoon, prompting shoppers and shop assistants to flee the building in panic.

The floor housed the mall's food court, a movie theatre, a bowling alley and a water-fun park. No injuries or deaths were reported.

After firefighters had the fire under control in 20 minutes, the initial inspection found that it might have started around 3pm in the food-court area, which was under renovation, possibly after sparks from metal welding burned a wall and the ceiling. The fire-damaged area covered 50-60 square metres. Forensic investigators were inspecting the scene for the exact cause of the fire.

The incident caused panic to shoppers who fled the building and gathered on the footpath, while many tried to drive their cars out of the mall, causing a severe traffic jam in the area.

A seventh floor Major Bowl assistant manager, Natthakan Aasainam, said there was no fire alarm at the time but he smelled the burning smoke and looked toward the food court, some 30 metres away, and saw the flames, so he alerted customers and fellow workers to run out of the building. "I wasn't so shocked because I believed firefighters would put it out in time. Many others were fearful and stampeded to get out. I hurriedly put money in the safe box before running out," he said.

Forty-year-old Boonthiam Kaewmueuangkao, who was shopping with her young daughter,

said they were on the fifth floor escalator when they smelled and saw the smoke and people fleeing. Getting scared, she carried her daughter and ran along with others until they were clear of the building.

-- The Nation 2011-08-28

[jpinx]

------------------- A seventh floor Major Bowl assistant manager, Natthakan Aasainam, said there was no fire alarm at the time but he smelled the burning smoke and looked toward the food court, some 30 metres away, and saw the flames, so he alerted customers and fellow workers to run out of the building. -------------------

So much for the sensors in the alarm system.

But people would probably not pay much attention to an alarm going off .. mai ben rai Wait till they see the flames and then panic

Edited August 28, 2011 by jpinx

[ratcatcher]

"Sparks from ""METAL"" welding (is there any other kind?) burned a wall."

Seems normal, no protection from sparking or slag dropping. Fortunately no deaths. I hope the 'emergency' exits were functional.

[Nisa]

------------------- A seventh floor Major Bowl assistant manager, Natthakan Aasainam, said there was no fire alarm at the time but he smelled the burning smoke and looked toward the food court, some 30 metres away, and saw the flames, so he alerted customers and fellow workers to run out of the building. -------------------

So much for the sensors in the alarm system.

But people would probably not pay much attention to an alarm going off .. mai ben rai Wait till they see the flames and then panic

Areas under construction or renovation rarely if ever have working smoke detectors ... too many activities would either set them off or make them inoperable during normal construction.

[Lite Beer]

Central Bang Na reopens today

BANGKOK, 28 August 2011 (NNT)- Central Bang Na has resumed the service today following the blaze that broke out on the seventh floor yesterday.

According to the board of directors of Central Pattana Plc., the fire actually erupted in the area under renovation where there were no shoppers around.

The blaze was put out within 10 minutes. Customers were evacuated out of the mall. No casualties were reported. The incident forced Central Bang Na to close immediately. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

-- NNT 2011-08-28

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I like the NNT news release's diplomatic use of the phrase, "customers were evacuated," making it sound like the mall itself or security actually did anything...

What actually happened -- people saw flames, smelled smoke, panicked, and started running for their lives -- is a bit less diplomatic...

BTW, even if the alarm sensors weren't working or were turned off in the area of the renovation, the surrounding sensors still should have worked and detected smoke as it spread... perhaps....

[Nisa]

No injuries, people evacuated safely, fire put out quickly and mall is opened back up in less than 24-hours but yet some posters here can resist acting superior regardless of the fact fires like this happen in every modern country around the globe and often with much more tragic results..

Edited August 28, 2011 by Nisa

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

It's hardly acting superior.... It's more being worried for one's own life when going out in large public facilities like the Central Mall.

It's also recognizing a disaster in the potential making.... that in this case, was fortunately and probably more luckily averted...

There was no alarm... There was no "evacuation." There was people running and fleeing in panic....

You only have to look at the history here for plenty of examples of atrocious fire safety...or to put it more accurately...a total lack of fire safety... non working alarms, blocked or locked fire exits, no inspections....

People only have to think back to Santika to see how how fire safety is treated here... and the total lack of consequences for what occurred in that horrible episode.

Edited August 28, 2011 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[bkkjames]

Just last week following the condo fire on soi 24, an official came out and said they were going to look at building safety etc (no sprinklers in that case). I await the next press release to address no fire alarms.