It is believed that the elderly man started the fire himself by leaving a gas cooker and stove on for a long period of time.
An 81-year-old Swiss man, suffering from paranoia, died on Thursday morning in Pattaya in a fire at his home that it is believed he may have started himself. A Filipina woman and several dogs were rescued from the property by fire services.
An autopsy is to be carried out on the body of a Swiss man who died early on Thursday morning in a house fire which he is believed to have started himself. Police and fire services were alerted to the emergency in Pattaya at 6 am on the 23rd of January.
The 81-year-old man is believed to have been suffering from acute paranoia. The illness is an irrational and constant fear that danger lurks all around you and that persons unknown are preparing to do you harm.
His name is being withheld as authorities reach out to the Swiss embassy to notify his relatives.
Fire ignited from man’s cooking stove
Bystanders at the scene could see large amounts of smoke emerging from the home as the firefighters inside fought to put out a blaze believed to have been ignited by the man’s cooking stove.
The property is a distinctive bungalow on a quiet housing estate.
Electricity disconnected from the home
In the course of the incident, electricity to the home was disconnected by firefighters.
The firemen also succeeded in rescuing a number of dogs and a Filipina national named as Angel Phlaserdin, a 49-year-old woman believed to have been living with the Swiss man.
Filipina woman seemed in a distressed state with the family dogs rescued from the home
The woman was seen to be in a distressed state surrounded by the dogs who were brought out of danger by firemen as the battle to fight the fire and rescue her partner went on.
‘He had lived with Angel at the house for some time. He was elderly and might have left the stove on by accident,’ one local who lived in the housing estate told the media.
Firefighters found the 81 year old alive but he expired shortly after even after receiving CPR
Firefighters with oxygen masks and respirators who entered the house initially found the Swiss man alive but choking on the plumes of smoke that made breathing difficult.
They brought the elderly man out of the home and gave him CPR but he had already expired. It is believed that he died from smoke inhalation. Firefighters then covered the man’s body in a blanket at the scene.
The fire service is still examining the incident to determine the exact cause of the blaze but confirmed that a gas cooker and stove was left on by the now-deceased homeowner.
Further reading:
Norwegian dies from smoke inhalation after fire erupts at 16th story Pattaya condo building
Luxurious interior contributed to the Lady D fire as police intially suggest the yacht was insured
