Fireworks stored at the back of a family house in Pathum Thani exploded on Thursday morning, setting off a fire which destroyed three homes in Sam Khok district.
Firefighters said the blaze started in a room at the back of the house, which was used to store fireworks. There was a series of explosions as the fireworks detonated. It took firefighters about an hour to put out the blaze, succeeding only after all the fireworks had gone off.
The house in question and two adjacent houses burned down. Three other houses and a nearby school suffered cracked roof tiles and glass panes.
The house's occupants, Tawat Namborisut and his mother, managed to escape the inferno unscathed. Tawat, 25, said that he was awoken by a series of deafening explosions. He and his mother quickly left the house.
A neighbour suffered a small cut on his arm from a broken roof tile.
Tawat claimed that the fireworks belonged to his 60-year-old father Pen Namborisut, who was on a trip to another province.
Police said that the storage room had been locked and the heat inside had possibly built up to a critical level, setting off the fireworks. They would check to see if the house owner was licensed to make the fireworks.
