A 2 a.m. fire destroyed half of a dormitory that houses up to 30 women in Chiang Mai, Thailand on April 7. The night of the fire there were six women in the dormitory as well as a three-year-old toddler. Thai schools are currently on summer holiday so the dormitory was not full. During the school year the dormitory can house up to 30 women.

Wanpen Sanyang woke to discover that there was a fire burning in the building directly across from her second story window. Within minutes the fire jumped from the adjacent building to the women’s dormitory at the Chiang Mai Adventist Church. Sanyang immediately alerted the other residents and they escaped from the building without injury.

The 40-year-old residence hall served as a dormitory for less affluent Adventist students from remote mountain villages near Chiang Mai who attend universities in the city. The church provides the young people with low cost housing to help them further their education.

While the women managed to save some of their possessions, they lost almost everything. They lost computers, school uniforms, school books, dishes, and even Bibles.

“We are trying to give back to the women as much as we can. For some of them this was quite a big loss,” said Nipitpon Pongteekatasana, pastor of the Chiang Mai Adventist Church.