Fire at Gokseong-gun Aluminum Factory Fully Extinguished After 22 Days

Jeonnam Fire Department's 'Removal Extinguishing' Strategy Change Stands Out

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The fire that broke out at an aluminum factory in Seokgok-myeon, Gokseong-gun, Jeonnam, was completely extinguished after 22 days.

The complete extinguishment was about two months faster than experts' expectations of over 90 days, highlighting the strategic excellence of the Jeonnam Fire Department.

According to the Jeonnam Fire Headquarters on the 2nd, the 200-ton aluminum fire that occurred at the aluminum factory on the 10th of last month was fully extinguished at 5 p.m. the previous day.

Metal fires react chemically when in contact with water, producing flammable gases, making it impossible to suppress the fire with water and posing a very high risk of explosion.

The Jeonnam Fire Department applied the fire suppressant expanded perlite to the fire surface to establish a defensive line to prevent the spread of combustion and induce suffocation extinguishing, but faced difficulties in suppression due to high temperatures exceeding 1000℃.

Accordingly, they changed their suppression strategy, measuring harmful gases and flame temperatures daily, inducing natural combustion to accelerate, and identifying the period when the metal content was reduced to proceed with removal extinguishing, resulting in the fire being completely controlled in about 20 days.

The remaining 650 tons of aluminum were also moved to a safe area.

Fire Chief Ma Jaeyoon said, “This fire incident provided an opportunity to strengthen the firefighting officers' capabilities in responding to metal fires through various measurements and experiments such as expanded perlite, dry sand, and large amounts of spray water,” and added, “I express my gratitude to the staff who worked hard to suppress the fire under the heatwave.”

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