At first, only thick smoke billowed out of the front entrance of the bar in northern Bangkok. It was around midnight.
Within seconds, an intense horizontal plume of fire gushed out of the doorway leading to the street, according to a video posted on social media and verified by Reuters.
Screams and shrieks filled the air.
Outside for a cigarette, Usa Tadsree at first noticed the lights flicker inside and then spotted the smoke.
“I wanted to go back in to get my friends but there was intense heat coming out, so I had to run out,” said Usa, 41.
At least 30 people have died as a result of the fire and 75 are injured, 24 of them critically. The toll has once again put a spotlight on fire safety regulations and lax enforcement in Thailand’s hospitality industry.
The fire erupted at 11.57pm on Sunday, probably sparked by an electrical short circuit in a ceiling air conditioner, authorities said.
Although firefighters arrived within minutes, a combination of factors proved deadly for many of the people trapped inside the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao pub.
Highly combustible materials used to decorate the stage and likely for better acoustics instantly ignited to produce extreme heat, smoke and deadly toxins, choking many of those trapped inside, according to two experts who have studied the blaze.
Thai police are investigating if emergency exits were obstructed and prevented victims from escaping the burning pub, which underwent a safety inspection in April.
The pub, located at a busy intersection next to train stations and two shopping malls, is one of a cluster of similar bars often crowded on weekend nights, serving food, drinks as well as offering live music and televised sports.
The pub did not answer calls or immediately respond to a request for comment yesterday and its owner is among those being treated in hospital.
“The severity of this fire was driven by a massive fuel load,” said Busakorn Saensookh, chair of the Fire Protection Engineering Committee at the Engineering Institute of Thailand, who inspected the site following Sunday’s deadly inferno.
In particular, she pointed to highly flammable acoustic material and decorations, including artificial trees and flowers that had been installed across the ceiling to create a green canopy, especially around the stage and bar areas.
Video of the venue before the fire that has been verified by Reuters shows a green grass-like material covering the ceiling above the stage, as well as what appears to be black acoustic foam panels over areas packed with seating for patrons.
“The fire involved plastic materials, and these were relatively dense plastics. Once ignited, they produced a jet of fire as enormous amounts of heat accumulated,” said Busakorn.
“That heat was transferred downward, causing materials below to burn. Upholstered chairs were completely consumed by the fire.”
The use of foam in the Bangkok pub’s ceiling mirrors how similar material may have contributed to a devastating fire in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana on New Year’s Eve that killed at least 40 people and injured 119 others.
The venue’s decorative items, made from non-fire-retardant foam, produced black smoke containing carbon monoxide and cyanide that choked people trapped inside, said Amorn Pimanmas, president of the Thailand Structural Engineers Association, who has also visited the site.
“People died from inhaling toxic smoke before being burned by the fire,” he said. “Several bodies showed no signs of burning.” — Reuters
