A small electrical warehouse was completely destroyed by fire on September 11 in Phnom Penh’s Trong Moan village of O’BekKa’am commune in Sen Sok district.
One fire fighter passed out and several others seriously vomited as they inhaled poisonous smoke during operations to control the blaze.
Kong Tho, deputy director of the Phnom Penh municipal fire prevention, extinguishing and rescue department, told The Post that department director Prum Yorn was rendered unconscious after inhaling fumes from the fire as he led a detachment to stop the spread of the flames.
“The fire was remarkably intense because of the materials that were being stored on the premises. The fumes poisoned several of our officers as they fought the inferno,” he said.
Yorn, who had just regained from consciousness, told The Post from hospital on September 12 that a fire fighter’s duty was always to extinguish fires, no matter how difficult or dangerous the situation.
“No matter how hard, we will always do our very best to put out any fire we encounter. We do this so that no fire gets a chance to become an even larger tragedy,” he said.
According to Yorn, nineteen fire trucks attended the incident, where they were kept busy for nearly two hours before it was under control. Investigating officers have not yet determined the cause of the blaze.
