A fire at a large hazardous materials storage warehouse in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, was brought under control after approximately nine hours of firefighting efforts. Fortunately, there were no reported injuries.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the blaze was declared under control at 9:08 a.m. on August 11, following its outbreak at 12:03 a.m. in a one-story warehouse building with a total area of 937 square meters, part of the PJK Pyeongtaek 1 Center.
Due to concerns about rapid combustion from chemical substances, the fire department issued a Level 1 response at 1:32 a.m., mobilizing between 31 and 50 fire trucks. This was escalated to a Level 2 response at 2:40 a.m., involving 51 to 80 fire trucks.
At around 3:39 a.m., a national firefighting mobilization order was issued, calling for support from four nearby provinces, including Chungnam, Sejong, Chungbuk, and Daejeon.
The national mobilization order is issued by the Fire Agency when local firefighting resources are deemed insufficient to handle a disaster.
The fire department deployed 102 pieces of equipment and 255 personnel, including 28 support vehicles from other provinces, to combat the blaze. By 6:21 a.m., some of the national mobilization order was lifted, and 21 vehicles were withdrawn, with the response level fully lifted by 8:30 a.m.
The warehouse was authorized to store over 191,000 liters of flammable liquids classified as Class 4 hazardous materials (including special flammable substances and petroleum) along with various other chemicals.
The fire department plans to investigate the cause of the fire once the extinguishing operations are completed.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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