Capt Chatri Chuwichian of the Wichit Police told The Phuket News that he was notified of the fire at 2pm.
Firefighters from the Wichit Municipality Fire Department arrived to find black smoke billowing out of a unit on the seventh floor of the eight-story building, located behind the Makro store on Wichit Songkram Rd.
Firefighters used a crane to douse the fire from outside the building.
No people were in the room while the fire was burning, Capt Chatri said.
“Firefighters took almost an hour and 45 minutes to extinguish the fire, but the fire was contained and no other units were directly affected,” he added.
The whole building was evacuated for safety, but three people were taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital for smoke inhalation, Capt Chatri confirmed.
At this stage, the cost of the damage has not been estimated and officers have yet to confirm what caused the fire, but suspect a short circuit, Capt Chatri noted.
Building manager Sukanya Thammapanya, 30, told police that she was working in her office on the ground floor when one of the condo residents told her of the fire, Capt Chatri explained.
“Ms Sukanya said she rushed to the room and knocked on the door and shouted out, asking if anyone was inside, but no one responded,” he said.
“She entered the room and saw a lot of smoke, and rushed to get two fire extinguishers to douse the fire. Her efforts to stop the fire failed, so she called the fire department,” Capt Chatri said.