HARDWARE STORE
A fire destroyed a construction material warehouse and hardware store in Chiang Mai yesterday, forcing more than 200 staff to run for their lives.
Damage to the warehouse and stock was initially estimated at more than a billion baht.
The blaze broke out at Global House's Wiang Kumkam branch in Saraphi district, one of the biggest construction material warehouse stores in the North, about 10am.
More than 20 fire trucks raced to the scene to combat the fire, which quickly spread through the warehouse. Gas containers and paint caught fire and exploded. A wall on the left side of the one-storey building collapsed and fell on one of the fire trucks.
Preecha Nokham, the driver of the fire truck, and fireman Adisak Silakhwa, 31, were injured when the wall hit the truck.
Lak Chaichoen, a staff member, said more than 250 warehouse workers were preparing to open the store when the fire began. She saw flames spreading on the roof of the building. Employees used fire extinguishers to try to control the blaze, but it spread quickly to the entire building, forcing all workers to flee for their safety.
Witnesses said technicians were repairing the airconditioning on the roof shortly before the fire broke out.
Somkiart Wongchansua, the branch manager, believed the blaze might have been caused by an electrical short-circuit in a ventilator.
Damage to the building was initially estimated at between 300 and 500 million baht while the damaged stock was worth about 700 million baht, he said. The warehouse was covered by insurance.
Provincial authorities declared the warehouse unsafe pending a police investigation into the cause of the blaze.
Global House is a one-stop store providing construction materials and home hardware accessories. It has several branches across the country. Its Wiang Kumkam branch, covering 35 rai of land, is the biggest of its kind in the northern province.
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