The fire broke out at a Middle Eastern restaurant in the small, but bustling street, at about 7:35pm, said Maj Anon Udompracharak of the Patong Police.
Restaurant staff and even security guards from the nearby Jungceylon shopping mall attempted to contain, but failed, he said.
Patong Municipality firefighters arrived by about 8pm, and extinguished the fire in 15 minutes, he added.
“There people were injured by the fire, and the fire did not cause any damage to the electrical cables hanging across the front of the restaurant, which were close to where the fire was,” Maj Anon said.
Maj Anon, who said he was unable to recall the restaurant’s name, explained that he had cautioned the restaurant’s owner to make sure the fume extractor hood was cleaned properly, and regularly, after it was found that grease in the hood had caught alight.
“The restaurant cook said he lit the cooker as he usually does, and some oil stains around the stove and caught alight, and the flames then continued up to to the smoke extractor. The fire started inside the kitchen and spread out to the outside,” Maj Anon explained.
“So I checked the smoke extractor, and there were still some oil stains left inside. I ordered the restaurant owner to work seriously on deep cleaning the kitchen and the smoke extractor for safety,” Maj Anon said.
The Patong Fire Department told The Phuket News that they will work with officers from the Patong Municipality Health Division to carry out inspections at other food preparation venues to prevent any similar incidents.
Kurt | 13 December 2019 - 08:04:09