Class action: Thai schoolkids fight fire with fryer power
Teens taught to tackle danger as flames hit seaside hotspots
Thai schoolkids in Sriracha have been swapping textbooks for fire extinguishers in a fiery crash course to fight fire and stop blazes before they burn out of control, just weeks after a spate of high-rise infernos rocked nearby Pattaya.
Disaster chiefs from Sriracha yesterday, June 24, joined forces with fire safety officers from Phyathai Sriracha Hospital to deliver a scorching lesson in emergency response at Wat Ratsadaniyomtham Municipal School.
Led by Seree Kerdthong, the fire safety blitz targeted pupils in years 10 to 12, along with their teachers, arming them with both theory and hands-on training in how to tackle a blaze.
The aim? To make sure students stay calm under pressure and know what to do, and who to call, if disaster strikes, said one official.
“It’s about giving them the knowledge and composure to respond to fire emergencies, protect lives, and prevent damage.”
Pupils took turns battling simulated blazes using extinguishers, learning crucial fire prevention and suppression techniques that could one day prove life-saving.
The initiative is part of a broader push to raise safety awareness among the younger generation, with schools now seen as a front line in community disaster preparedness, Pattaya News reported.
The training couldn’t come at a better time. Just weeks earlier, holidaymakers in Pattaya were sent fleeing for their lives after two terrifying fires ripped through separate high-rise blocks in Jomtien.
The first blaze erupted in the early hours of May 28 on the 27th floor of a condominium on Soi Chaiyaphruek 1. Panicked tourists were seen racing down stairwells as smoke billowed from Room 2709, where the fire is believed to have started in the kitchen near several appliances.
Firefighters from the Pattaya City Disaster Relief Centre, alongside volunteers from the Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan Rescue Foundation, arrived swiftly to douse the flames.
Just three weeks earlier, another blaze broke out on the 19th floor of a 29-storey condo in Soi Chaiyaphruek 3. The inferno, reported just after 8pm on May 7, forced a full evacuation as thick black smoke poured from Room 1911, engulfing the upper floors.
With the eastern seaboard heating up, literally, local fire officials say education is the first line of defence.
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