Together with several case files, the Fifth Division of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIBthree-story )’s Sathorn Road headquarters burned destroyed this morning.
No one was inside the 42-year-old structure at the time of the incident, but seven nearby parked automobiles, including the division commander’s official car, suffered significant damage.
As the fire spread, several fire vehicles sped to the area, and traffic was stopped up to one kilometer away from the building. As the fire started, there were intermittent explosions, and approximately an hour later, the building’s roof fell.
When Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt went to the scene, he was told by a police guard that he had heard an explosion on the ground level that may have been brought on by a short circuit, and then he had seen flames coming from a stack of papers.
With no luck, the guard used a portable extinguisher to put out the fire before calling for help.
According to CIB Commissioner Pol Lt-Gen Thiti Sangsawang, it is now thought that the fire first originated in a ground-floor chamber used to store documents before spreading to other locations.
He acknowledged that he is unsure if the facility housed significant case files, but said that a fact-finding team will be formed to ascertain the origin of the incident.
The CIB division took over the building in August, replacing it as the former site of the Economic Crime Suppression Division’s headquarters.
