An officer at the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation office at Patong Municipality (DDPM-Patong) told The Phuket News that firefighters were informed of the fire at about 6:44pm.
By the time firefighters arrived at the scene, at the southern end of Ha Sip Pi Rd (50 years Rd), the whole building was engulfed in flames, the officer said.
“There was a lot of smoke and flames coming out of the building. A fire truck and three water trucks were dispatched to the scene. We spent 15 minutes to stop the fire.Thankfully, no people were injured,” the officer added.
Firefighters returned to inspect the building this morning, the officer explained.
The owner of the building was present, the officer noted.
“The fire had gutted the storeroom and the roof had been destroyed completely. There were still some beach umbrellas and other items in the room that had been damaged by the fire,” he added.
“At this stage we are not sure what started the fire. We are waiting for police investigators to inspect the scene and estimate the cost of the damage caused by the fire,” he added.