Did Someone Turn Off the Sprinkler... It Didn't Operate for the First 8 Minutes of the Coupang Fire

On the morning of the 20th, the Coupang Deokpyeong Logistics Center in Majang-myeon, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, is revealing its framework. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Choyoung] It has been confirmed that the sprinkler operation was delayed for 8 minutes during the fire at Coupang Deokpyeong Logistics Center in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, which occurred on the 17th.

On the 20th, Lee Sang-gyu, head of the Gyeonggi Provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters, stated during a meeting with Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, who visited the funeral hall of Kim Dong-sik (52, Fire Captain), who died in the line of duty in this fire, "We need to wait for the final results, but according to the fire department's investigation, the sprinkler operation was delayed by about 8 minutes."

In response to Lee's question about some media reports that the sprinkler was manually shut off, Lee said, "In principle, it should not be shut off," and answered accordingly.

Lee explained, "Although technology related to fire alarms has advanced, there are many false alarms, so when the fire alarm sounds once, everyone evacuates, but from the second time onwards, people say 'this is a false alarm.' In such situations, it is believed that the sprinkler was turned off for about 8 minutes this time as well."

The police have announced that if there is evidence of tampering with the sprinkler during the fire, those involved will be punished.

The fire started around 5:20 a.m. on the 17th in the basement 2nd floor of the logistics center, which has 4 floors above ground and 2 floors underground. The police and fire authorities estimate that the fire began when sparks ignited an outlet installed above the shelves in the goods warehouse.

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