[Anchor]

A fire broke out early this morning (August 11) at a warehouse storing large quantities of chemical substances in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. Fortunately, the major blaze was brought under control without any casualties. However, emergency containment operations are underway due to concerns that special extinguishing agents used in the firefighting process could flow into nearby rivers.

Reporter Im Jihyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

Crimson flames soar above the warehouse, and black smoke blankets the sky.

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

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

This location is about 300 meters away from the fire scene.

I stood here for about 40 minutes, and even from this distance, a pungent odor lingers, with smoke spreading in all directions to the point of irritating the eyes and throat.

Overnight, a national firefighting mobilization order was issued, deploying firefighting equipment from other regions, and the major fire was contained after nine hours.

The two burned warehouse buildings are facilities capable of storing up to approximately 3.54 million liters of flammable hazardous materials such as petroleum. Because about 100 types of chemical substances were stored inside, it is taking more time to completely extinguish the fire.

Fortunately, there were no casualties, but authorities have launched emergency containment measures to prevent special fire extinguishing agents mixed with water for rapid suppression from flowing into rivers.

[Nearby Resident: An announcement was just made over the village loudspeaker telling people not to open the water gates to the rice paddies and fields.... This could flow 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, taking appropriate measures to keep the runoff from flowing into rivers is critically important.]

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

(Video by Yang Ji-hun | Video Editing by Lee So-young)