Fire at Suncheon City Resource Circulation Center... Firefighters Continue Extinguishing for Second Day

Fire authorities have been battling the fire at the Suncheon City Resource Circulation Center, which broke out on the 18th, for the second consecutive day. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Fire authorities have contained the major blaze at the waste treatment facility in Suncheon, Jeollanam-do, but are still putting all their efforts into extinguishing the remaining embers on the second day.

According to the Suncheon Fire Station on the 19th, a fire broke out at the Suncheon Resource Circulation Center in Juam-myeon, Suncheon City, at around 6:39 a.m. on the 18th. A total of 144 firefighters and 24 firefighting vehicles were deployed to extinguish the fire.

The fire initially started in a warehouse where the flames were so intense that firefighting equipment had difficulty approaching. Strong winds further complicated the firefighting efforts, but firefighters used pump trucks and other equipment to complete initial extinguishing within two hours, preventing any casualties.

The fire originated from a pile of recyclables temporarily stored in the waste storage area within the intake yard, burning various plastics and recyclable materials.

Although the Suncheon Fire Station succeeded in the initial extinguishing, embers spread to a pile of approximately 2,000 tons of waste stored in the warehouse, leaving smoldering fires. To prevent additional fires, about 40 firefighters have been deployed for two consecutive days to manage the remaining embers.

Thanks to the prompt response and early extinguishing by the fire authorities, the fire fortunately did not spread significantly. Adjacent to the building where the fire occurred are facilities such as shredders, dryers, and crushers worth approximately 4 billion KRW, which could have led to a large-scale fire if ignited.

The estimated property damage from the fire is currently about 400 million KRW, according to the fire station.

The fire authorities plan to investigate the exact cause of the fire and the extent of the damage once the extinguishing is completed.

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