Thread: Propane from water heaters leaves three unconscious in Phetchabun

Three people fainted while bathing in two Phetchabun resorts last week, and public health officials said on Monday that the reason was found to be propane gas.


The incidents took place on October 20 and October 23. Sarasin Saetao, 23, said he had turned on the heater to take a hot shower, but five minutes later he started feeling dizzy and turned off the shower. However, he fell unconscious as he tried to leave the bathroom and then woke up to find himself in hospital. He admitted to not turning on the exhaust fan while bathing.

The second case involved two children aged four and 12. Their mother, 30, said when it appeared her son and daughter were spending far too long in the shower, she decided to look in and found them unconscious on the bathroom floor. They were then taken to hospital and revived.

Officials visited the two resorts on Monday and learned that the second resort had no exhaust fan installed in the bathroom. Upon measuring the level of gas in the air, the officials found that the quantity of propane in the bathrooms rose as soon as the water heaters were turned on, which explains the reason why the three people had fainted.

Propane from water heaters leaves three unconscious in Phetchabun

So clearly the lack of the exhaust fan is to blame for a propane leak, and had they had it on nothing bad would have happened.

Could've been worse. Somebody could've lit a match to see if they were still breathing.