Large Fire Breaks Out at Daejeon Tire Store, Extinguished After 4.5 Hours

[Anchor]

A major fire broke out at a tire store in downtown Daejeon earlier today (October 30). The flames spread to an adjacent building before being brought under control after four and a half hours.

Reporter Oh In-gyun from TJB has the details.

[Reporter]

Fierce red flames soar from a roadside tire store.

Thick black smoke generated by the burning tires blankets the sky, and the exterior walls of the building are warped, looking precarious enough to collapse at any moment.

Sparks fly and explosion sounds are heard when water touches electrical facilities.

The fire at the tire store began at around 10:00 a.m. today.

Residents of an officetel across the street woke up to a acrid smell and rushed outside in panic.

[Nearby Resident: An emergency alert came in, so I came out to the front and saw that there was a fire. When I first came out, the fire was only at the tire shop, but now it has spread to the adjacent building....]

An employee working at the store at the time evacuated immediately, and two residents who inhaled smoke received treatment at the scene and returned home.

The fire that started at the tire store spread to the adjacent building and the rear of the building, and smoke continued to billow from the opposite side of the building.

The Dunsan Fire Station is located right next to the fire scene, but because the personnel were away conducting a disaster response drill at the time, it took 10 minutes for units from another fire station to arrive first.

The fire authorities issued a Level 1 response 20 minutes after the fire broke out and deployed two helicopters and about 200 personnel.

However, the 6-story building to which the flames spread also contained a large amount of combustible materials such as auto parts, and the heat was so intense that part of the store collapsed, making firefighting operations difficult.

[Choi Young-hoon / Head of 119 Disaster Response Division, Dunsan Fire Station: Due to the high heat, the building collapsed, so we do not know exactly how many tires were inside, but judging by the flames, it is confirmed that a large amount of combustible materials, namely tires, were stored there.]

The fire was completely extinguished about 4 hours and 30 minutes after it broke out, and the firefighting response stage was lifted.

The fire authorities plan to investigate the cause of the fire and the scale of the damage through a joint inspection.

(Photo: TJB / Video by Song Chang-gun)

Oh In-gyun, TJB
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.