PATTAYA, Thailand – A 26-year-old woman fled for her life after discovering her room filled with smoke while she was at home in a commercial building on October 2, with officials suspecting an electrical short circuit may have caused the fire. Pattaya Disaster Prevention and Mitigation officers received the emergency call at 2:06 p.m. about a fire at a commercial building on Soi Land Dept. or Krom Thee Din in south Pattaya. Firefighters, rescue volunteers and Pattaya City officials rushed to the scene with a water truck.
Heavy smoke was pouring from the windows of a third-floor room, where flames were burning around a bed. Firefighters quickly sprayed water into the room and brought the fire under control.
Most of the belongings inside the room were damaged. The room’s owner, identified as 26-year-old Saipan, was shocked by the incident but was not injured.
She told officials that she had been taking a shower on the second floor. After finishing, she entered the room and suddenly found it filled with thick smoke. She quickly grabbed her clothes, ran downstairs and called on neighbors for help before emergency crews arrived. Firefighters found signs that the fire had started near the end of the bed, where an electrical socket and battery charging cable had been left plugged in. An electrical short circuit was initially suspected, although the exact cause will be determined after an examination by forensic officers from Chonburi.
