Flames engulf Sompote Service garage, damaging five vehicles and forcing emergency road closures on Pornprapanimit Road. PATTAYA, Thailand – A massive fire broke out at Sompote Service, a car repair shop and tire center on Pornprapanimit Road (Soi Siam Country Club), East Pattaya, destroying five vehicles and injuring two people in a chaotic afternoon incident, July 13. The blaze began around 3:30 PM, prompting emergency calls to local police and fire services. Rescue units from Nongprue Municipality, Pattaya City Disaster Prevention, and Pong Municipality responded with five fire engines, firefighting gear, and ambulances. On arrival, flames were raging fiercely inside the auto garage, forcing authorities to shut down both sides of the road for safety and launch an urgent effort to bring the inferno under control. After more than 40 minutes, firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze. A fuel-draining operation gone wrong triggers a devastating fire after a gas station mistakenly filled the wrong diesel. The damage was extensive: five vehicles, including a Toyota Alphard, sedans, and pickup trucks, were burned. Tools and equipment inside the garage were completely destroyed. Two men were injured — one sustained leg burns and was hospitalized, while the owner of the Alphard suffered minor injuries. The Alphard’s owner, Mr. Than Sae-Lo, 21, said he was driving back to Bangkok and had stopped to refuel at a nearby gas station. However, an attendant mistakenly filled his car with the wrong type of diesel. The station advised him to go to Sompote Service to have the fuel drained. “While the garage staff and the gas station attendant were draining the fuel, a fire suddenly erupted,” Mr. Than recalled. “Everyone panicked and ran for their lives.” Authorities believe the fire may have been caused by a spark during the fuel draining process, igniting flammable vapors. A full investigation is now underway to determine the exact cause of the fire. Workers and customers flee for their lives as the fire spreads rapidly through the garage in broad daylight. The owner of a Toyota Alphard and a garage worker suffer injuries, while officials probe the source of the spark that started it all.