SAMUT PRAKAN: A family's Thai-style house two-and-a-half storeys high burned to the ground in Sam Rong Nua district late on Thursday night.
The father suffered burns trying to put out the blaze. Damage was estimated at 5 million baht.
The house stood in a two-rai compound that included a machine shop on Dan Samrong 23/1 Road. The fire was reported to police about 11pm.
About 10 fire engines and crews took about an hour to put out the blaze. By then the house was destroyed.
Resident Rapeeporn Yanwuthinawong, 24, said all the family were relaxing on the ground floor when they noticed smoke coming from the second floor. She rushed upstairs and found a fire burning in her room.
She ran back downstairs and told everyone to flee. Her father Somnuek, 57, got a fire extinguisher from the factory and tried unsuccessfully to extinguish the blaze. The flames burned his arm. Then the family called an emergency hotline.
Many antique items were kept on the second floor of the house, including old porcelain, she said.
Police believed an electrical short-circuit started the blaze.
