Cause of Pyeongtaek Firefighter Death in Line of Duty: 'Gas Smoke Explosion'

Fire Department [Photo by Yonhap News]

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[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Nayeon] It has been confirmed that the cause of the accident in which three firefighters died while extinguishing a fire at a logistics warehouse construction site in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province last January was a 'smoke explosion,' a rapid explosion of flammable gas.

The National Fire Agency announced the results of a joint civil-government central investigation team on the 17th, which included this finding related to the accident.

After the accident, the fire authorities conducted a joint investigation over two months in five areas, involving external experts, lawyers, and representatives from the firefighters' union.

The joint investigation team stated that at the time of the fire, a large amount of flammable gas had accumulated as urethane foam, an interior material installed at the construction site, burned, and subsequently, a sudden 'smoke explosion' occurred, causing the firefighters to momentarily lose their escape route and become trapped.

At the time of the accident, the firefighters entered the site after controlling the major flames to conduct a search for survivors and extinguish remaining fires, but as the fire reignited, three of the five firefighters were found dead, unable to escape.

The investigation team explained that the testimonies of two firefighters who escaped after working together at the scene were also found to be similar to the smoke explosion scenario.

According to simulation experiments by the National Fire Research Institute, even if the flames on the first floor of the building subsided, the fire sequentially reached its peak on the second floor.

The fire authorities explained, "In logistics warehouses using urethane foam interior materials, the combustion rate is fast, and at temperatures above 300℃, a large amount of flammable decomposition gas is released," adding, "Under certain conditions, instantaneous combustion can occur explosively."

The National Fire Agency plans to prepare countermeasures, anticipating an increase in unpredictable types of fires in the future.

First, they will establish a command qualification certification process and appoint certified firefighters as commanding officers and fire station chiefs preferentially. To this end, they plan to increase the number of command capability enhancement centers from the current three nationwide to nine.

Additionally, they intend to expand research and development to prioritize the deployment of special protective equipment such as flammable gas detection robots and armored fire trucks at hazardous sites. They also explained that separate fire safety standards will be established for construction sites, which are less safe than completed buildings, to prevent accidents.

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