PATHUM THANI: Fireworks stored out the back of a family house where they were made exploded on Thursday morning, setting off a fire which destroyed three homes in Sam Khok district.
The explosion and subsequent fire occurred at house No.62 in Moo 3 village of tambon Ban Ngew about 8.40am.
The house is a single-storey wooden structure on Soi Ban Ngew 12.
Firefighters said the blaze started in a room built out the back of the house used to store fireworks. There was a series of explosions as the fireworks detonated. It took them about an hour to extinguish the blaze, succeeding only after they had all gone off.
The house and two adjacent houses were burned down, and roof tiles and glass panes cracked on three others and a school nearby.
Tawat Namborisut, 25, and his mother fled the inferno unscathed. He said the fireworks belonged to his 60-year-old father Pen Namborisut, who was on a trip to another province.
He was awoken by a series of deafening explosions and made sure he and his mother quickly left the house.
A neighbour suffered a small cut on his arm from a broken roof tile.
Police said that the fireworks storage room was locked and the heat inside had possibly built up to a critical level, setting off the crackers. They would check to see if the house owner was licensed to make fireworks.
