28-Hour-Long Fire at Icheon Coupang Logistics Center... Framework Exposed and Black Smoke

One Firefighter Missing... Decision on Resuming Search After Safety Inspection
Difficulty in Extinguishing Large Amounts of Flammable Materials

On the morning of the 18th, firefighters are conducting extinguishing operations at the Coupang Deokpyeong Logistics Center fire site in Majang-myeon, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi Province. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] As the fire at the Coupang Deokpyeong Logistics Center in Icheon-si, Gyeonggi Province has continued for over 28 hours, fire authorities are struggling to extinguish it. Nearly 250 employees all evacuated safely with no casualties, but the disappearance of one firefighter during the extinguishing efforts has added to the sorrow.

According to fire authorities on the 18th, the fire that broke out at the Coupang Deokpyeong Logistics Center in Majang-myeon, Icheon-si the previous day has not been extinguished as of 9:30 a.m. that day. From around 7 p.m. the previous day, the flames spread throughout the entire building, raging fiercely overnight, leaving the entire structure exposed as a bare skeleton. Inside the building, there are many flammable materials such as cardboard boxes, vinyl, and stickers used for parcel packaging, still emitting thick black smoke.

As a result, fire authorities have suspended the search for missing Fire Captain Kim (52) of the Gwangju Fire Station 119 Rescue Team, who went missing during the search for survivors. Captain Kim entered the basement level 2 of the building with four colleagues at around 11:50 a.m. the previous day for a search but did not come out alone. Of the four who entered, three evacuated, and one was rescued in a state of exhaustion and transported to a hospital.

The fire started at around 5:36 a.m. the previous day on basement level 2 of the logistics center building, which has four floors above ground and a total floor area of 127,178.58 square meters. CCTV analysis showed sparks coming from an outlet installed above a display shelf inside the basement level 2 warehouse. Fire authorities issued a ‘Response Level 2’ alarm 20 minutes after the report, mobilizing personnel and equipment from the jurisdictional and neighboring fire stations to fight the fire, and managed to control the major flames by around 8:19 a.m., about 2 hours and 40 minutes after the fire started. At the time the fire broke out, 248 employees were working inside, all of whom evacuated safely with no casualties.

However, at around 11:50 a.m., the flames flared up again inside. Firefighters working on extinguishing the fire were ordered to evacuate urgently and moved outside, but Captain Kim could not escape. Despite overnight firefighting efforts, the fire has not easily subsided due to the nature of the warehouse containing many combustible materials. A fire official explained, “It is estimated that the combustion re-expanded as a large amount of combustible material on the shelves inside basement level 2 collapsed,” adding, “Currently, the fire has spread throughout the building, making entry difficult due to the risk of collapse, so efforts are focused on controlling the spread from outside.” Fire authorities are conducting remote firefighting operations using 139 pieces of equipment and 416 personnel, including water curtains.

Fire authorities plan to decide whether to resume the search after a building safety inspection. The police have secured CCTV footage from the scene and plan to conduct a joint investigation to determine the cause of the fire as soon as the flames are controlled.

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