A large hole was torn in the passenger seat leather, and the inside of the seat was charred black.

On the afternoon of July 15, a battery exposed to high temperatures and sunlight suddenly exploded inside a vehicle parked at an elementary school in Guku-dong, Daegu.

In Mokpo in 2023, a lighter left inside a vehicle exploded, leaving a passenger with second-degree burns.

Vehicle fires during the summer have increased every year, reaching 1,354 cases last year, with over 900 cases already recorded this year.

We tested firsthand just how quickly the interior of a car heats up during the summer.

At 1 p.m. when the sunlight is hottest, the interior temperature of the car, which was already approaching 40°C (104°F), soared past a whopping 80°C (176°F) in just two hours.

The thermometer installed inside the car stopped working as it could not withstand the heat, and a candle placed next to it melted.

The current time is 4 p.m.

Measuring the temperature of the dashboard right now, it reads nearly 80°C (176°F).

In weather like this, leaving items like lighters or auxiliary batteries in a car would make it stranger if they didn't explode.

Vehicles with window tinting are just as hot.

[Interview / Kim Hyo-in, Senior Researcher at Korea Transportation Safety Authority: We have confirmed that vehicle fires occur about 10% to 20% more frequently in the summer because the outside temperature is high. You must not leave lighters or butane gas, which have the potential to explode, unattended (inside the car).]

Experts advise that temperature increases can be somewhat mitigated by parking so that the rear windshield, which has a narrow surface area and a large reflection angle, faces the sun.

When parking for a long time, it is recommended to leave the windows open by 1 to 2 centimeters or install a sunshade.

Soaring to 80°C in an Instant.. "Do Not Leave Batteries in Your Car" (Morning Wide, August 10, 2026)

(Photo: Yonhap News)

Reported by Kwon Min-gyu | Produced by Lee Seyoung | Video by Seol Chi-hwan | Video Editing by Kim Jong-tae | Design by Lee Ga-jin | Produced by SBS Digital News