'National Fire Mobilization Order' Issued for Pyeongtaek Fire: What is the PJK Pyeongtaek Logistics Center?

As a fire broke out at a hazardous materials storage warehouse in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, today (August 11), prompting the issuance of a National Fire Mobilization Order, attention is focusing on the scale and stored substances of the facility, the PJK logistics center.

According to the Gyeonggi Provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters, the fire broke out at the PJK Pyeongtaek Center 1 located in Tojin-ri, Cheongbuk-eup, Pyeongtaek-si, at 12:03 AM today.

Fire authorities, having received the report through an automatic fire detection system and judging that there was a high risk of the fire spreading, issued a National Fire Mobilization Order, which deploys firefighting personnel and equipment from neighboring cities and provinces.

The National Fire Mobilization Order is issued by the head of the National Fire Agency when it is determined that it is difficult to respond to a disaster using only the firefighting forces of the local region.

This decision was made because a large amount of hazardous materials and toxic chemicals were stored inside the burning PJK Pyeongtaek Center 1, leading to concerns that it could escalate into a major disaster.

PJK Pyeongtaek Center 1 is known to be the largest dedicated storage facility for hazardous materials and toxic chemicals in South Korea's special logistics sector based on a single business site.

According to the company website, the facility consists of a land area of 26,793 square meters (approximately 8,100 pyeong), a total floor area of 9,214 square meters (approximately 2,700 pyeong), six warehouse buildings (21.2 meters in height), and one administration building (7 meters in height).

Each warehouse ranges in size from approximately 280 pyeong to 520 pyeong, equipped with freezing, refrigeration, constant temperature, and constant humidity facilities, storing Class 4 hazardous materials and toxic chemicals.

Class 4 hazardous materials stipulated by the Hazardous Substances Safety Control Act refer to flammable liquids that easily catch fire, such as special inflammable materials, Class 1 to 4 petroleums, and alcohols.

It was reported that the burning warehouse building, which has a total floor area of 937 square meters (approximately 280 pyeong), stored about 1.91 million liters of roughly 100 types of Class 4 hazardous materials and general chemicals.

As PJK Pyeongtaek Center 1 is also known to handle electric vehicle (EV) secondary batteries and raw materials, fire authorities are verifying whether secondary batteries were present inside the warehouse where the fire broke out.

Meanwhile, fire authorities brought the major blaze under control at 5:16 AM, about five hours after the fire started, and downgraded Response Stage 2 (involving 51 to 80 vehicles) to Response Stage 1 (involving 31 to 50 vehicles).

However, the National Fire Mobilization Order remains in effect.

It has been confirmed that there are no casualties so far.

(Photo provided by Gyeonggi Provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.