▲ Firefighters battle a blaze at a hazardous materials storage warehouse in Tojin-ri, Cheongbuk-eup, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on the 11th. (Photo courtesy of Gyeonggi Disaster and Security Headquarters, Yonhap News)
"In a perilous situation surrounded by hazardous materials on all sides, firefighters gathered from various regions spent the night holding the defense line to finally bring the fire under control."
Although a massive fire broke out at a hazardous materials storage facility in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, in the middle of the night, it was brought under control without any casualties. This success is attributed to the swift response of the firefighting authorities, who mobilized all available firefighting resources from across different regions.
At 12:03 AM today (the 11th), flames erupted inside a single-story warehouse at PJK Pyeongtaek Center 1, a hazardous materials storage warehouse (specialized logistics center) located in Tojin-ri, Cheongbuk-eup, Pyeongtaek.
Fire authorities, dispatched after receiving a report through the automatic fire speed-detection system, promptly initiated suppression operations, but the flames spread at an uncontrollable speed.
The warehouse was capable of storing up to 1.91 million liters of Class 4 hazardous materials across roughly 100 types, including flammable liquids such as alcohols and Class 1 to Class 4 petroleum products, leaving no room to lower vigilance even for a moment.
Expanding the scope to seven buildings, including five storage warehouses located within PJK Pyeongtaek Center 1, the permitted volume of hazardous materials totaled 12.55 million liters, meaning the risk of additional fires or explosions could not be ruled out.
In particular, the buildings within this center were densely clustered just meters apart, with several other factories and logistics warehouses located within a radius of around 100 meters.
Consequently, firefighting authorities escalated the alert level to Response Stage 2 (mobilizing 51 to 81 vehicles), and about three and a half hours after the fire broke out, issued a National Fire Mobilization Order to deploy firefighting personnel from other cities and provinces.
As a result, 26 units, including firefighting water tankers and chemical vehicles, rushed from four neighboring municipal and provincial regions—South Chungcheong, Sejong, North Chungcheong, and Daejeon—to provide prompt support.
The core strategy of the fire suppression operation was to "defend the frontline."
Considering the facility's characteristics as a storage site for large quantities of hazardous materials, firefighting authorities blocked personnel from entering the building and continued suppression using long-range water discharge methods.
Simultaneously, they divided the site into four sectors to establish a three-dimensional defense line, thoroughly blocking the flames from spreading to adjacent buildings.
In addition, specialized personnel and equipment, such as the Special Response Unit of the Gyeonggi Disaster and Security Headquarters and the Chemical Response Unit of the Central 119 Rescue Headquarters, were deployed to bolster firefighting efforts.
With a total of 102 pieces of equipment and 255 personnel deployed, including mobilized resources from other regions, the flames subsided, and the alert level was lowered to Stage 1.
Following approximately nine hours of overnight firefighting operations, authorities succeeded in bringing the fire under initial control at 9:08 AM.
Two buildings, including the initial ignition warehouse and an adjacent warehouse, were completely burned down by the fire, but there were no casualties.
Furthermore, fire authorities have formed a pollution control team with Pyeongtaek City and carried out containment operations to prevent firefighting water mixed with hazardous substances from flowing into nearby streams.
Fire authorities are currently conducting overhaul operations to clean up remaining embers and plan to verify the exact quantity and types of hazardous materials stored at the site once the fire is completely extinguished.
An official from the fire authorities stated, "We initially understood that 1.91 million liters and 1.63 million liters of hazardous materials were stored in the completely burned warehouses, respectively, but it turned out that these figures represent the permitted storage limits rather than the actual amounts stored, so we plan to further verify the exact storage status."
Hong Jang-pyo, head of the provincial disaster and security headquarters, stated, "Thanks to our frontline personnel holding the defense line through the night, we successfully prevented the fire from expanding and avoided any casualties," adding, "We will do our utmost with firefighter safety as our top priority until the fire is completely extinguished."
(Photo provided by Gyeonggi Disaster and Security Headquarters, Yonhap News)
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