Danish steakhouse blaze in Phuket

PATONG, PHUKET: Damages from a fire that broke out in the kitchen of a Danish steakhouse yesterday could run as high as one million baht, the owner says.

The fire started about 10:30am in the kitchen of the Fundue House restaurant on Soi Patong Resort, off Soi Bangla.

No one was harmed in the blaze.

The fire caused extensive damage to the kitchen and spread to the second floor before four Patong Municipality fire engines arrived and put out the blaze in about 10 minutes.

Owner Jesper Henriksen of Denmark told the Gazette he will be forced to close the popular restaurant side of the business for up to a month because the kitchen, including the ceiling, sustained extensive damage.

Mr Henriksen confirmed the restaurant was covered by insurance and that the front dining area and bar were not affected by the blaze. He plans to resume serving beverages today.

Yet the damage has already been done. “Everyone knows what this season has been like. We can’t afford to close,” he said, adding that the bar enjoys the patronage of many regular customers.

Mr Henriksen told the Gazette that an electrical short combined with a high concentration of gas in the extractor fan might have been the cause.

“We won’t know until we get the report… We were lucky that nobody was hurt because it came very fast,” he said.

Three people were in the restaurant at the time, but they were downstairs drinking coffee when the fire broke out, he said.

— Atchaa Khamlo