Engineers Cast Doubt on Police ‘Light Bulb’ Explanation For Deadly School Fire

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Engineers Cast Doubt on Police ‘Light Bulb’ Explanation For Deadly School Fire
By Sasiwan Mokkhasen
Staff Reporter


Pitakkiat Witthaya School in Chiang Rai where the fire broke out and killed 17 school girls opens as usual on Monday. Photo: Pitakkiat Witthaya School / Facebook

CHIANG RAI — Sixteen days after 17 schoolgirls died in a fire in their dormitory, which lacked smoke detectors or fire alarms, engineers and at least one parent expressed doubt today about the police version of what happened – and no one has yet to be held accountable.

A police spokesman said a report from regional forensic examiners said the May 22 fire at the Pitakkiat Witthaya School in Chiang Rai started with a light located on the first floor. Spokesman Kritsana Pattanacharoen said investigators still needed more time to deliberate before they could file any charges.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1465282313


-- Khaosod English 2016-06-07

[Gandtee]

Our children are in these peoples hands.Have smoke detectors been installed yet? If not, why not.

[biplanebluey]

I thought they said it was a NEON light. No heat from a neon light bulb !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[The stuttering parrot]

Good to see the press highlighting the fact about the findings coincided with the governors visit and implying it was a rush job or attempted cover up.

Also the fathers statement thanks for the money but he didn't get what he came for. Answers!

I suppose the children passing before the flames came is some comfort.

But not much.

[Acharn]

I thought they said it was a NEON light. No heat from a neon light bulb !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Really? I don't know about neon. The language was later clarified to "fluorescent light bulb." It was a mistranslation. Nobody uses neon lights inside a building. The person who translated from the Thai wasn't as skilled in English as he should have been. Anyway, I've had cheap fluorescent fixtures develop short circuits and melt the plastic, but I don't believe it could have been hot enough to ignite cloth.

Edited June 7, 2016 by Acharn

[aussiandrew]

Not today not tomorrow not next week will neon lighting cause such devastation to a building with people inside.

[SOTIRIOS]

...pathetic....

[kovaltech]

I thought they said it was a NEON light. No heat from a neon light bulb !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the transformer has a lot of heat when the starter gets broken...or an short by moister/corrosion...

[Mudcrab]

Our children are in these peoples hands.Have smoke detectors been installed yet? If not, why not.

Not my children

[Mudcrab]

I thought they said it was a NEON light. No heat from a neon light bulb !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes theres is sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

[graemeaylward]

My daughter attends a boarding school in Kalasin. Following the tragedy in Chang Rai, I e-mailed the school enquiring about fire safety in the school especially the dorms. No reply! I asked my daughter if there were smoke detectors or fire alarms in the dorms, which house over 200 girls. She said no, nor are there extinguishers. One fire exit is permanently blocked, the other exit is locked at night by a chain and padlock from the inside by a member of staff who stays there and has the only key! I asked my daughter whether the school had conducted a fire drill. No was the answer! My wife is not concerned as she says that as there has been a school fire recently it is unlikely to happen again for many years! This is Thailand!

[Gandtee]

My daughter attends a boarding school in Kalasin. Following the tragedy in Chang Rai, I e-mailed the school enquiring about fire safety in the school especially the dorms. No reply! I asked my daughter if there were smoke detectors or fire alarms in the dorms, which house over 200 girls. She said no, nor are there extinguishers. One fire exit is permanently blocked, the other exit is locked at night by a chain and padlock from the inside by a member of staff who stays there and has the only key! I asked my daughter whether the school had conducted a fire drill. No was the answer! My wife is not concerned as she says that as there has been a school fire recently it is unlikely to happen again for many years! This is Thailand!

I have a similar problem. My son has just started school in Bangkok and lives in a dormitory with a couple of dozen other students.There are no smoke alarms or sprinklers fitted and I couldn't find any fire extinguishers in the corridors. I thought that these precautions were now mandatory. Stupid me. TIT. I've gone through an escape procedure with him that involves him jumping into an adjacent mango tree. I just hope the occasion never arises where he should need it. Before any advice is given that he should move, try getting getting accommodation in Bangkok.

[Rotweiler]

No problem. You can bitch all you want. But if asked to come up with the cost of smoke/fire detectors... then you run. The school is terribly under-funded. Want to help? No problem - make your donation directly. Maybe such disasters will not occur again.

'

...pathetic....

[Gandtee]

No problem. You can bitch all you want. But if asked to come up with the cost of smoke/fire detectors... then you run. The school is terribly under-funded. Want to help? No problem - make your donation directly. Maybe such disasters will not occur again.

'

...pathetic....

In my post I was referring to a privately owned dormitory which should surely come under any building/fire regulations.If there are any, that is. Perhaps if more people bitched these safety features would be installed.