In a dramatic midnight event, a 77-year-old grandmother recounted her near-death escape from a second-floor house fire, believed to have been caused by an electrical short in a fan. Tragically, a mother dog and her seven puppies were burned to death in the blaze.
On 8 Aug 2026, at 00:30, a fire broke out at a two-and-a-half-story house, partly concrete and partly wood, in Village 3, Ban Cha Luay, Ron Thong Subdistrict, Satuek District, Buriram Province. The fire spread rapidly in the middle of the night, causing great alarm among local residents. Firefighters and water trucks rushed to the scene and took nearly 30 minutes to control the blaze. However, the house and all belongings were completely destroyed by fire.
According to Ms. Long Tiangtham, 77, the homeowner, she told with shock about the critical moments: she was sleeping on the second floor when she woke to a crackling sound and saw smoke. She found a heavy fire around the power cord of a floor fan left on, believed to be caused by an electrical short circuit. The flames quickly spread to the mattress, walls, and belongings, making it impossible to descend the stairs as usual.
In the crisis moment, she tried to escape by going to the window intending to slide down a papaya tree planted beside the house. Her son, who was below, saw this and shouted to stop her, fearing the tree might not support her weight or she could slip and fall seriously. He then told her to jump down while he waited to catch her. She jumped from the second floor and was safely caught by her son, surviving with only minor injuries.
Mr. Amarin Buengklai, 25, the homeowner's son, said that when the fire started, he was sitting below playing on his phone when he smelled smoke. He went outside and saw flames on the second floor and his mother escaping through a window. The cause is suspected to be a faulty fan his mother had taken multiple times to a local repairman, possibly causing an electrical short circuit.
However, the incident had a tragic aspect. After the fire was extinguished, officials found a mother dog and her seven newborn puppies burned to death in the blaze. The fire spread so quickly that rescuers could not save the dogs, causing deep sorrow for the family and witnesses.
Police from Satuek Station and forensic officers from Buriram Province will inspect the scene again to determine the exact cause of the fire and to assess the damage value.