According to fire authorities and emergency officials in Incheon, the fire, which broke out at around 6:50 a.m. last Saturday on the sixth floor of the eight-story logistics center in Seoknam-dong, was largely contained at around 8 p.m. on Monday.
An emergency evacuation order issued the previous day for residents within a 116-meter radius of the logistics center over concerns about a possible structural collapse was also lifted.
Around 200 residents in nearby areas reportedly moved to temporary shelters due to concerns over smoke and falling ash, although their neighborhoods were not included in the evacuation zone.
About a dozen daycare centers and an elementary school nearby were also closed for the day.
Despite the deployment of more than 800 emergency personnel and over 200 pieces of firefighting equipment to the site, the warehouse's complex structure and the large amounts of combustible materials stored inside hampered firefighting efforts, although rainfall helped firefighters make some progress in containing the blaze.
A total of 121 people including warehouse workers were safely evacuated shortly after the fire broke out, while two firefighters were taken to a hospital after inhaling smoke and suffering exhaustion.
With the blaze brought under initial control, fire authorities are expected to launch a full investigation into the cause of the fire and assess the extent of the damage.
The latest incident marks one of the longest fires at a logistics facility in recent years, breaking the previous record also held by Coupang for a fire at its warehouse in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province in June 2021, which took 55 hours to bring under control.
Some critics argue that little improvement has been made since then, saying that large-scale warehouses storing vast quantities of materials and other flammable goods should strengthen safety measures and emergency preparedness.
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