Major Fire Extinguished After 9 Hours, Raising Concerns of Secondary Damage

[Anchor]

Early this morning (August 11), a fire broke out at a warehouse storing large quantities of chemicals in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. Fortunately, the major blaze was brought under control with no casualties. However, emergency disaster response operations are currently underway due to concerns that special firefighting chemicals used in the suppression work may flow into nearby streams.

Reporter Im Jihyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

Crimson flames soar above the warehouse as thick black smoke blankets the sky.

The exterior walls of the building are charred beyond recognition, and the steel frame has collapsed.

The fire at the hazardous materials storage warehouse in Pyeongtaek began around midnight.

This spot is located about 300 meters away from the fire scene.

I have been standing here for about 40 minutes, and even from this distance, a pungent odor lingers, and smoke is spreading everywhere to the point of irritating my eyes and throat.

Overnight, a national firefighting mobilization order was issued, deploying firefighting equipment from other regions, and the major blaze was put out after 9 hours.

The two burned warehouses are facilities capable of storing up to approximately 3.54 million liters of flammable hazardous materials such as petroleum, and with about 100 types of chemicals stored inside, it is taking more time to completely extinguish the fire.

Fortunately, there were no casualties, but authorities have launched emergency containment efforts to prevent the special fire extinguishing agents mixed with water used for emergency suppression from flowing into streams.

[Nearby Resident : They just broadcasted over the village loudspeaker not to open the water gates (in the rice paddies and fields).... This stuff flows toward Asan Bay.]

[Kong Ha-sung / Professor of Fire and Disaster Protection at Woosuk University : Amphibians could suffer fatal damage. From the perspective of preventing environmental pollution, it is also very crucial to take appropriate measures to keep it from flowing into streams.]

Mobilizing 14 water spray trucks to pump out water accumulated in drainage channels connected to streams, authorities plan to continue operations late into the night to prevent any secondary damage.

(Video Reporter : Yang Ji-hun, Video Editor : Lee So-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.