Officials from the Pollution Control Department have started testing the air quality around a chemical storage warehouse in the Phachi district of Ayutthaya, following a fire last night.

It took firemen more than six hours to bring the blaze under control, using chemical foam. The warehouse was storing about four tonnes of various chemicals, which had been seized in connection with pending court cases, in 200-litre and 1,000-litre drums. Provincial officials say that the store was unoccupied.

Firemen said that the warehouse is an enclosed area, making it difficult for smoke to ventilate to the outside, so they had to spray chemical foam from one side of the warehouse to force the smoke out through the front door and into open fields.

Ayutthaya Governor Niwat Rungsakorn said that there are about 200 households within a 1km radius of the warehouse, but no one has reported suffering from smoke inhalation. No evacuation was ordered during or after the fire, he added.

The governor said that provincial officials have, however, been instructed to advise the residents there on ways to protect themselves from the smoke.

There were about 30 in-patients at the Phachi district hospital at the time of the fire. The hospital director said all of them are safe, adding that new patients who need admission will be sent to another hospital in Tha Rua district as a precaution.

An emergency centre has, however, been set up at the hospital, in case people do start suffering any ill effects from the blaze.

Police from Phachi district station will inspect the warehouse to identify the cause of the fire.