PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN — Firefighters and soldiers needed four hours on Saturday to control a forest fire that occurred near a royal botanical garden in tambon Nong Gae of Hua Hin district.
The fire broke out in a eucalyptus grove near the garden before 1pm. About 150 soldiers and firefighters with six fire trucks were deployed to fight the blaze, which spread quickly because of high winds.
Controlling the fire proved difficult as the wind kept changing direction, and even after the flames were put out the area was being monitored to ensure a new blaze would not erupt.
Suwat Promma, chief of the rescue unit of the Huay Mongkol Highway Police, said firefighters also had to prevent the fire from spreading to two nearby state properties: the Rajamangala University of Technology Rattankosin, Klai Kangwon campus and the Army Non-commissioned Officer School.