Pol Lt Col Patthi Yodkwan of the Thalang Police was informed of the fire ‒ at the ‘100 things of this, 1,000 things of that’ store on Thepkrasattri Rd northbound in Moo 1, Srisoonthorn ‒ at about 2:30pm.
Initially fire trucks from Srisoonthorn Municipality and Thepkrasattri Municipality rushed to the scene, but were unable to control the fire, which had spread to the back of the warehouse store, causing heavy damage.
Support for more fire trucks was requested from Thepkrasattri Subdistrict Administrative Organisation (OrBorTor), Cherng Talay Municipality, Cherng Talay OrBorTor, Mai Khao OrBorTor, Koh Kaew OrBorTor, Phuket City Municipality and directly from the main Phuket branch of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket).
In total 15 fire trucks were called to the scene, with firefighters still taking two hours to bring the blaze under control.
When firefighters arrived, the fire was burning fiercely from the roof at the back of the warehouse and spreading. The wooden roof structure and the flammable products inside the store continued to fuel the flames.
Thalang Police closed Thepkrasattri Rd southbound temporarily from the U-turn in front of the HomePro store to the Khao Lan intersection at Baan Lipon so firefighters had clear access to the scene.
The northbound lanes were used for traffic in both directions while firefighters battled the blaze, causing long traffic tailbacks in both directions.
Kamonchanok Bhiraban, 32, owner of the second-hand store, explained that she had started a small fire at the back of the warehouse that was left smouldering for hours for her beehives.
A neighbour raised the alarm when the small fire started spreading, and Ms Kamonchanok attempted to put the fire out herself with a small fire extinguisher. Failing to douse the spreading flames herself, Ms Kamonchanok said she called the local municipality to report the fire ‒ but claims that no one answered the phone.
Authorities have yet to report their investigation into the cause, and spread of the fire.