Three paper factory warehouses catch fire in Samut Prakan

Firefighters continued to tackle a huge fire at a recycled paper factory in Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok, into the early hours of this morning after flames destroyed three warehouses.

Initially, some 100 fire engines were dispatched to the Thai Development Industrial Paper Company in Tambon Thay Ban in Muang district at 8pm last night (Wednesday).

At first, firefighters fought the blaze from inside the compound but they had to retreat to outside the perimeter as the flames spread fast and some 50 additional fire engines were called in.

Officials of the factory say the fire began when a worker, who was fixing the metal roof, caused sparks to fall on recycle paper rolls below.

At 4.30am this morning, the fire had swept through three warehouses at the factory. Firefighters also used a bulldozer to separate the flames from the remaining paper rolls. 30 year old Kittipong Sakulsas, a firefighter, said there were several layers of paper rolls and when they extinguished one layer, it rekindled another layer.

Although they had controlled the flames, firefighters expected it would continue to burn for several hours before it was completely extinguished. He added that the factory was far from a water source and fire engines had to take turns to fetch water.

SOURCE: The Nation