A fire breaks out at Factory No. 1 of the Seokpo Smelter in Bonghwa-gun at around 12:36 p.m. Thursday. [North Gyeongsang Province Fire Department]
A fire breaks out at Factory No. 1 of the Seokpo Smelter in Bonghwa-gun at around 12:36 p.m. Thursday. [North Gyeongsang Province Fire Department]

A fire at the Seokpo Smelter in Bonghwa-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, was brought under initial control in just over two hours and 20 minutes.

According to police and fire department officials, a fire that broke out at around 12:36 p.m. Thursday at Factory No. 1 of the Seokpo Smelter in Seokpo-myeon, Bonghwa-gun, was extinguished at around 2:52 p.m. — roughly two and a half hours after it started.

Fire officials issued a Level 1 emergency response six minutes after receiving the report, deploying about 100 personnel, including special response units and wildfire response teams, to fight the blaze.

Factory No. 1, which handles sulfuric acid manufacturing, caught fire in a duct connected to an air dust collector, destroying two dust collectors. No casualties or sulfuric acid leaks were reported.

Police and fire department officials are investigating the exact extent of the damage and the cause of the fire.


kbj7653@heraldcorp.com