Thread: Big Fire on Asoke

The sirens have been blaring away now for the past 3 hours. Presumably it's a big one.

Fire breaks out at Sukhumvit building
March 3, 2012

A massive fire broke out at the seventh floor of a 13-storey office building on Soi Sukhumvit 21 Saturday afternoon.

Over ten fire engines rushed to the scene but it was difficult for firemen to reach the seventh floor with the hoses and the fire ladder was difficult to operate at the area had many power cables.

The blaze spread to the eighth and ninth floors quickly and officers urgently evacuate people from the building.

The fire started at about 3:20 pm and fire firghters had yet to control the blaze.

The fire caused severe traffic congestion on Soi Asoke and Sukhumvit Road.

nationmultimedia.com

I wondered what was going on. I just left that area.

soolloos Nathaphon

@js100radio 16.28น ตึก fico, มีมาอีกกระเช้าล่ะครับ http://pic.twitter.com/2mNGrLQP

45m

veena T. ‏

"@Rawangpai Chanel report the #FICO fire is now under control. Two reportedly injured from broken glass."

Was just about to post asking what was going on?

Looks nasty, hope it's only two injured.

Thank goodness its a weekend. Wow if it happened yesterday? Up scale office building seems to have been fairly vacant on a Saturday. So far all the news is good, in terms of human injury and death. I too hope it stays that way.

Originally Posted by aging one

Thank goodness its a weekend. Wow if it happened yesterday? Up scale office building seems to have been fairly vacant on a Saturday. So far all the news is good, in terms of human injury and death. I too hope it stays that way.

what kind of place is Asoke ?

Originally Posted by socal

Originally Posted by aging one

Thank goodness its a weekend. Wow if it happened yesterday? Up scale office building seems to have been fairly vacant on a Saturday. So far all the news is good, in terms of human injury and death. I too hope it stays that way.

what kind of place is Asoke ?

I thought you were the Thailand expert?

I swear Socal mentioned picking up some 40 year old free lancer from Asoke, a while back with a photo too. i can't be arsed to go looking for it though

Then again

Originally Posted by socal

that is where my misus for the trip works, in Asoke.

Originally Posted by socal

Originally Posted by Bogon

Originally Posted by socal

that is where my misus for the trip works, in Asoke.

Socal. You are setting yourself up for a barrage with that one-liner!

Half the whore bars and freelancer joints are within pissing distance from there. Add the ladyboy street crawlers hanging around the footbridge and you have a full set.
Sure your girl is not one of these. Just saying how it is...
Cough cough...Mmm..cough cough...

works in Ocean One tower.Picked her up from there, met a few friends and shit. So all the whores hang around the Exchange Tower and that area ? thats news to me.

Originally Posted by sabai sabai

I swear Socal mentioned picking up some 40 year old free lancer from Asoke, a while back with a photo too. i can't be arsed to go looking for it though

Remember the picture of 'pattaya' beach he posted on the thread about how clean pattaya beaches are?
I wouldn't expect too much.

Busted, Socal. You twat.

Firemen injured battling blaze in Asoke high-rise - The Nation

Firemen injured battling blaze in Asoke high-rise

Wisit Chuanphiphat
The Nation on Sunday March 4, 2012 1:00 am


Fire broke out at an office building on Asoke Road yesterday, slightly injuring a fireman while another choked due to the smoke.

Fire-fighters took three hours to control the blaze that began on the seventh floor and spread all the way to the 13th floor.

Due to the narrow traffic lanes, it was difficult for the fire-fighters to bring the flames under control so they had to wait for fire-engines with high ladders to enable them to spray water directly at the blaze.

A group of fire-fighters could not enter the building because the key-card system doors stopped working after electricity was cut off. It took time for them to get permission from the owner to break the glass doors and get into the building.

Due to the delays in tackling the fire, the blaze spread to higher floors.

Police said the fire could have been occurred at the product store of two companies on the seventh floor but the warning system and fire-extinguishing system did not work immediately.

Forensic police and Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) officials, and engineers from Engineering Institute of Thailand will inspect the building later to discover the cause of fire.

Although Vadhana district chief Sajja Khontrong said the building had a sprinkler system, Deputy Bangkok governor Theerachon Manomaiphibool said it did not have sprinklers to extinguish the fire.

Theerachon said the building was granted permission in 1979 and the construction law at that time did not make it mandatory for buildings to be equipped with sprinklers.

BMA would let its officials inspect the building after the forensic team and engineers have finished their inspections before deciding whether to allow the building to reopen, he added.

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

A group of fire-fighters could not enter the building because the key-card system doors stopped working after electricity was cut off. It took time for them to get permission from the owner to break the glass doors and get into the building.

hahahaha, just when you think you have heard it all.
imagine the phone call

Sawasdee cap
Can you hold ?
cap

10 minutes later

Yes what is it
Plomplem, your building on fire
Which one
Asoke cap
And you are
Somchai cap from Fire Service cap
Are you there now ?
Cap
Have you put the fire out yet ?
No cap, keycard not work cap, need permission to break rindow
You fukkin stupid &^%$


You couldn't make this shit up

It amazes me there are sentient farang about who still defend the Thai and spout gibberish that they are the same as everyone else.

An average day practically anywhere in this silly little country is just another act in an increasingly implausible farce. Sure, every society displays a propensity for foolishness in some part of its structure but only in Thailand is it the major feature.

Is anyone surprised the fire sprinkler systems did not work? Thai do not maintain anything.

Is anyone surprised access to the building's soi was restricted? Thai do not plan anything in the accepted sense of the word and certainly have no zoning laws except possibly those pertinent to a parallel universe.

Is anyone surprised the responsible fire officer in charge actually waited to get permission from the building's owner before forcing entry? The absurdity of this is of course manifestly apparent to anyone in a civilised country but here in lala land it probably seemed quite sensible. What reply did this congenital idiot actually think he was going to get when they telephoned the owner? No Somchai, you most certainly cannot but if you do then the Fire dept. must pay for the damage??

Is anyone surprised that in what has become a high rise city centre development, most power cables are still overground, suspended unevenly and dangerously from posts whose heights are only uniform in their disparity and as a consequence the extension of fire ladders is impeded and urgent access to the higher floors will invariably be delayed.

They have to be the most irresponsible, stupid people in the hemisphere.

City blaze prompts safety fears | Bangkok Post: news

City blaze prompts safety fears

SPRINKLER PROBLEMS IN BUILDING, FIRE REGULATIONS FOR OLD STRUCTURES TO BE RE-EXAMINED

• Published: 4/03/2012 at 02:20 AM
• Newspaper section: News

A massive fire erupted at the 13-storey Fico Place building in the busy commercial area of Sukhumvit Soi 21 yesterday sparking concerns about the safety of old buildings in the city.


JUST ADD WATER: Paper and debris fly out of shattered office windows as a fire rages in the upper floors of the Fico Place building on Sukhumvit Soi 21.PHOTO: PATIPAT JANTHONG

The fire started about 2.30pm on the seventh floor of the office building on Asok Road before rapidly spreading up to the 13th floor.

Thirachon Manomaipibul, deputy Bangkok governor for civil engineering, claimed the building had an inadequate sprinkler system.

Asok Road was closed as fire-fighters rushed to tackle the blaze.

No casualties were reported. About 50 people working in the building were evacuated. The intense heat caused the glass exterior to shatter which sent shards hurtling to the pavement.

Fire-fighters spraying water often had to back away from the building to avoid being hit by falling glass fragments.

Once inside, they had to break their way through doors to bring fire hoses into the building.

Police said it was a slow process to control the fire because the first few cranes to arrive were not tall enough for the water spraying operation.

Some large fire engines could not get close to the building as the street was too narrow. At least 30 fire engines were called to the scene.

The blaze was brought under control about 4.25pm. The closure of Asok Road, one of the city's main routes, paralysed traffic into the area for hours.

Security guard Sunthorn Jamrern, 44, said he was working on the ground floor when he heard workers above shout in distress. The building is normally quiet on the weekend.

Mr Sunthorn rushed to the seventh floor and saw a fire. He then alerted people in the upper floors to vacate the building.

Pol Col Rattasak Raksalam, chief of Thong Lor police station, said the cause of the fire has not been determined.

He said an electrician at the building had recently replaced electrical wiring on the seventh floor.

Sajja Khontrong, chief of Wattana district, said Fico Place, which was built in 1979, houses about 20 company offices.

Mr Thirachon said the building was constructed before the Building Safety Control Act of 1992 came into effect.

The act made adequate water sprinklers compulsory. Mr Thirachon claimed the building's substandard sprinkler system led to the blaze spreading rapidly.

Fico Place will be closed until necessary improvements are made in line with the safety control act. Damage to the building has not been assessed.

The deputy governor said City Hall was seeking cooperation from owners of pre-1992 buildings to improve internal fire-fighting and warning systems.

If necessary, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will approve mandatory measures to modernise safety features of Bangkok buildings.

Another deputy Bangkok governor, Malinee Sukvejvorakij, said forensic science experts and the BMA's civil engineers will inspect the structural strength of the building after the fire.

"It has yet to conclude whether the building breached any law," she said.

Ms Malinee said many high-rises were located in small sois which are too narrow for fire engines to get into. She said the BMA would "pay serious attention to the issue".

She said city regulations restricted the construction of tall buildings in narrow streets. However, some owners have tiptoed around the regulations. Physical layouts of the buildings are adjusted to avoid qualifying them as "tall buildings" which would subject them to strict controls and inspections.

Krit Srichawla, chief executive of Fico Corporation, the building owner, said all damages were covered by insurance. An office owner at the base of the building said she had not a fire drill take place there in at least five years.

"The fire started about 2.30pm on the seventh floor of the office building.................He said an electrician at the building had recently replaced electrical wiring on the seventh floor".

Seriously wonder if the owners of a building that size ask some "electrician" for evidence of training before allowing him to start work?

The La Raffine in Soi 24 was built about 5 years ago, I think. A luxury development with many apartments having their own private swimming pool which was just as well since the Fire services were able to control the blaze there last year using them as their primary resource. If I recall rightly, the sprinkler system was found to be defective and did not activate itself when the emergency arose.

Building controls etc in Thailand are utterly meaningless. No matter who installs what ever system the fact remains, one has to rely on a Thai to maintain it and that is simply beyond them.

Originally Posted by thegent

They have to be the most irresponsible, stupid people in the hemisphere.

I would give that particular accolade to the Philippines. The Thai are light years ahead of them, so you can imagine.

Originally Posted by BobR

"The fire started about 2.30pm on the seventh floor of the office building.................He said an electrician at the building had recently replaced electrical wiring on the seventh floor".

Seriously wonder if the owners of a building that size ask some "electrician" for evidence of training before allowing him to start work?

The only paperwork that they want is the one with the lowest quote.

Originally Posted by Jon Snow

Originally Posted by thegent

They have to be the most irresponsible, stupid people in the hemisphere.

I would give that particular accolade to the Philippines. The Thai are light years ahead of them, so you can imagine.

There is a strong and natural urge to agree with these sentiments, until we look back a short time to the case in the UK were a man is laying face down in a 3ft deep pond while Police, Firemen, Para-medics and a wide variety of others stand around arguing over health and safety concerns; reviewing union regulations, and doing everything possible to avoid an intervention which may possibly have saved the guys life.
(discussed at some length on this board)

Thailand and The Philippines may be in serious danger of losing their status....

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Some large fire engines could not get close to the building as the street was too narrow. At least 30 fire engines were called to the scene.

Great planning!