All Six Alarms at Coupang Logistics Center Fire Turned Off... Management Company Under Investigation

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] On the 17th of last month, when a fire broke out at Coupang's Deokpyeong Logistics Center in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, six fire alarms sounded, but it was confirmed that the disaster prevention office personnel turned them off.

The Southern Gyeonggi Police Agency's investigation team announced on the 19th that they have booked three people, including Team Leader B and two employees from Company A, which is in charge of electrical and fire facilities at the Coupang logistics center, on charges of violating the Fire Prevention, Installation and Maintenance of Firefighting Facilities, and Safety Management Act. Company A was also booked on the same charges under the dual punishment regulation that punishes both the perpetrator and the corporation.

B and others are accused of resetting the disaster prevention system six times without on-site verification when the fire alarm sounded during the fire on the second basement floor of the Coupang logistics center, delaying the sprinkler operation by about 10 minutes.

The building's disaster prevention system works by activating sprinklers when sensors installed detect smoke and heat after the initial alarm sounds, and the detection results exceed the set threshold.

The first alarm sounded at 5:27 a.m., but B and others reportedly mistook it for a device malfunction and reset the disaster prevention system six times.

A police official explained, "They are employees of a subcontractor responsible for the disaster prevention system, and delaying the sprinkler operation appears to have led to the spread of the fire."

The fire started on the second basement floor around 5:20 a.m. on the 17th of last month. Although the fire seemed to be extinguished after about 2 hours and 40 minutes, flames flared up again inside around 11:50 a.m. and soon spread throughout the building, finally being put out around the 22nd, six days after the incident.

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