Chiang Mai: Massive Fire

[AntRobertson]

At or near Global house. Huge plume of smoke going up, can see it clearly from my office in Lampang. Probably see it from anywhere in the city actually.

[Marmite the Dog]

I can't see it from here.

[AntRobertson]

Stand on a chair facing North, nope a little to the left...yes that's it. See it now?

[Marmite the Dog]

Looks like someone burning leaves from here.

[AntRobertson]

Yeah but really, really, really big leaves!

[Travelmate]

Is it near CMN's cave?

[AntRobertson]

^Nope, other side of town. Still with a little help from me and a petrol can it might yet make it out his way.

[Begbie]

Think it's near Dara. Lot of fire engines going past.

[johnbkk]

[johnbkk]

[AntRobertson]

Ok apparently it was Global House. And that has only been open, what, couple of years now?

^Good pic John.

[Travelmate]

Insurance job?

[johnbkk]

^ my first thought as well.

[Begbie]

^Mine as well. How did Ant spot the fire before it began ?

[baldrick]

Insurance job?

except the Insurance company is probably bankrupt

[Mid]

Fire swarms home building equipment shop in Chiang Mai
Thursday November 06, 2008 14:11

Fire swarmed home building equipment shop called Global House in Chiang Mai on Thursday, forcing more than 300 staff to run for their lives.

Damage cost is estimated at 300 million baht.

One person is reportedly injured from the fire.

Cause of the fire is still unconfirmed.

More than 20 fire trucks were there to control the flame.

bangkokpost.com

[bustak]

^ great pictures.

My gf & I saw it & thought it was an interesting cloud formation, I was going to stop & snap a picture, but didn't.

[dirtydog]

The fire was started by someone welding in the roof or ceiling area, I assume sparks dropped down and caused it, yep, a 200baht perday worker caused all that damage, quite amazing.

[lom]

quite amazing

Has happened before and he'll do it again if he gets the chance.

[keda]

I'm sure he'll be told off.

[The Snark]

Okay, speaking as an engineer and fire fighter of many years.

Let this be a lesson to everyone. In the real world, they have this thing called fire codes. Building materials must restrict the spread of open flame and have to be rated according to flammability.

The isulation/ceiling materials were not fire retardant. They caught fire and quickly spread it, dribbling gobs of burning plastic on the stored materials below. Also take note the yellow wall, mostly destroyed in the photos. Fire codes would have required that concrete block wall to have been filled, not hollow blocks as it obviously was.

And then, onto the fire departments. See any ladder trucks deluging water from above? The construction of these new buildings has vastly outpaced fire suppression capabilities. To contain a fire in a building the size of global house would have required a delivery of around 25,000 to 50,000 gallons per minute or more. From what I see of those fire trucks and hoses, they were tossing around 5000.


It will be a while before Thailand catches up with stores like Global House, and that isn't likely to happen unless they can seperate public safety entities from political manipulations.

[kingwilly]

nice first post.

a mate of mine (not tel) was a firey consultant while they were first building the initial BTS stations.

He reckoned his biggest nightmare was the MBK shopping centre, death trap waiting to happen., he refused to ever go inside there.

[The Snark]

nice first post.

a mate of mine (not tel) was a firey consultant while they were first building the initial BTS stations.

He reckoned his biggest nightmare was the MBK shopping centre, death trap waiting to happen., he refused to ever go inside there.

Can't blame him at all. When I go into these stores I'm always looking for egress and fire suppression things in place. Both Carrefore and Lotus in Chiang Mai are death traps. Kaed Suan Kaew would burn from end to end, bottom to top in a couple of hours.

Put that beside, when was the last time you saw a fire department out practicing, doing emulated suppression, or evaluating fire escape plans and procedures of these monster fire traps?

People often don't realize how powerful fire is. When you add big business interests and a sprinkling of corrupt paid off politicians, eventually you will read about it in the news. It was very fortunate that Global House was an open air configuration with a lot of egress at both the front and sides. Also, keep in mind, it isn't the fire that kills most of the time. ABS plastic creates a form of cyanide gas. PVC creates hydrogen chloride that turns into a powerful acid when it comes into contact with wet surfaces like your lungs. Nearly every plastic object found in these stores is made of one of the two.

[kingwilly]

not to mention the sheer numbers of people they stuff into them without adequate exits etc...

[The Snark]

not to mention the sheer numbers of people they stuff into them without adequate exits etc...

As in, when was the last time you saw a "Maximum occupancy ...." sign?

I recall a mall in Southern California. The State Fire Marshall and a crew came in, did a half hour survey and then ordered the place evacuated and closed. Fire exits weren't visible, occupancy to egress exceeded code, etc etc. But in the real world, NOBODY can supersede the fire marshals authority.