FICO Fire In Bangkok Prompts BMA To Check All Pre-1992 High-Rise Buildings

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FICO FIRE

Blast prompts check of pre-1992 buildings

THANATPONG KHONGSAI,

KHANATHIT SRIHIRUNDAJ

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Following Saturday's fire in the 13-storey Fico Place building in Bangkok's Asoke area, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will next week inspect all high-rises erected before 1992, when the law did not require them to have sprinkler systems.

The 1992 Building Safety Control Act amendments would be submitted tomorrow requiring all old buildings install sprinkler systems and other safety systems.

It is estimated there are over 1,000 such old buildings, especially in the Phayathai, Pathum Wan and Klong Toei areas, BMA Public Works Department director Winai Limsakul said yesterday.

District offices will inspect the buildings to ensure that they have fire-safety measures in place, he said. The Public Works Office will also ask for the buildings' plans to be stored in a database so that, if there were a fire, authorities could check on the building plan immediately.

Saying the law required landlords to have buildings checked by inspectors yearly, Winai said most Bangkok buildings were safe and met basic safety standards namely, fire exits, exit signs, smoke detectors and a floor plan display on every floor.

The BMA will submit the 1992 Building Safety Control Act amendments to the Bangkok Council tomorrow to inform landlords they must install systems including sprinklers, heat detection devices and fire exits, said Bangkok Council chairman Sutthichai Weerakulsunthorn. A building control committee, which includes agencies such as the BMA City Planning Department, the Depart-ment of Public Works and Town & Country Planning, and the Engineering Institute of Thailand, will be established to consider the amendments, he said.

BMA Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said officials inspecting pre-1992 buildings would ask building owners to install sprinklers and seek private sector co-operation in helping them obtain fire insurance or loans for sprinkler installation.

Sukhumbhand said the Fico Place has been closed temporarily and initial investigation showed that the fire had only damaged ceilings, office equipment and decor - not the building structure. Agencies will inspect and certify structure safety later.

Meanwhile, police continue to investigate and collect evidence on the fire, which reportedly started on the seventh floor. The building's management also invited all company workers at the building to a meeting at the Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Hotel for a second day yesterday.

Management declined to release details of the meeting.

Thong Lor superintendent Pol Colonel Ratthasak Raksalam said police had interviewed four witnesses - two maintenance workers, a security guard and a building management official.

They were waiting for forensic results to determine the cause of the fire. Police will soon ask the owners of some 30 firms using the building to file reports about property damage, he said.

Since Fico Place was built before 1992, police will ask the BMA if they had notified the building's owner to improve its safety measures. If the BMA confirms that it did, police would check if the building violated the Building Safety Control Act and criminal codes, he said.

-- The Nation 2012-03-07