This Time Too, It Was Safety Negligence

Urethane Foam and Elevator Installation Simultaneous Work Violates Fire Safety Rules at Icheon Logistics Warehouse

At the site of a fire at a logistics warehouse construction site in Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, where a large-scale human casualty occurred, police, fire authorities, and the National Forensic Service conducted a joint inspection on the morning of the 30th of last month.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The investigation results of the fire at the logistics warehouse in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, clearly show that this accident was a typical man-made disaster caused by safety negligence.

According to the fire authorities on the 4th, around 1:30 PM on the 29th of last month, when the fire occurred at the Icheon logistics warehouse construction site, work adding blowing agents to the insulation material urethane foam and elevator installation were being carried out simultaneously near the freight elevator in the basement of the building. These tasks pose a high risk of fire and explosion when conducted simultaneously. During urethane work, chemical reactions generate vapor, and sparks from the elevator installation process can ignite these vapors.

The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency and others have repeatedly warned about the "fire and explosion risks in urethane foam and welding work." According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Icheon City Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, under the Ministry of Employment and Labor, pointed out problems twice through document reviews and four times through on-site inspections at the Icheon logistics warehouse construction company. However, despite these warnings, the site, with two months left before the deadline, was rushing to complete the work.

Professor Lee Young-joo of the Department of Fire Protection and Disaster Prevention at the University of Seoul said, "It seems that similar accidents have been repeated because many tasks were carried out simultaneously to meet the completion deadline."

On the afternoon of the 1st, a wildfire that started in Dowon-ri, Toseong-myeon, Goseong-gun, Gangwon Province spread with strong winds to the area around Dohak Elementary School, located quite a distance away, fiercely engulfing the forest. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The 'Goseong wildfire' that occurred on the 1st was also close to a man-made disaster. Fire authorities believe the wildfire started from a house. Around 8 PM on the 1st, Mr. A, in his 60s, living in a house in Dowon-ri, Toseong-myeon, Goseong-gun, tried to extinguish a fire that broke out in a wood-fired boiler installed inside the house, but the fire did not go out and spread to the mountain wildfire, carried by winds blowing at 16 m/s at the time.

However, due to concentrated firefighting efforts in the early stages of the fire, the damage was not extensive. While the forest damage from the wildfire in Gangwon last April was 12.67 million square meters (3,832,675 pyeong), this Goseong wildfire burned only 850,000 square meters (257,125 pyeong). Last year, there were two fatalities, but this year, no casualties have been reported.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.