CCTV footage from the June 2021 fire at the Coupang Inc logistics center in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province [People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Young-se's office]
CCTV footage from the June 2021 fire at the Coupang Inc logistics center in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province [People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Young-se's office]

As a massive fire at a Coupang Inc logistics center in Incheon entered its third day, surveillance footage from a previous warehouse blaze resurfaced, offering a glimpse into the conditions that make such fires so difficult to contain. The dense stacking structure and multi-level interior layout have been cited as key factors hampering firefighting efforts.

The June 2021 fire at Coupang Inc's Deokpyeong logistics center in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, started on the second below-ground floor and effectively gutted the roughly 127,000-square-meter building before firefighters extinguished it six days later. The blaze originated from a spark at an outlet above a display shelf where a fan had been connected, then spread to every floor of the building.

Internal CCTV footage shows faint smoke rising between shelves stacked high with goods. Moments later, a small spark ignites, and within five seconds the fire engulfs entire rows of shelving.

In that fire, a so-called "mezzanine" structure — in which a single high-ceilinged floor is subdivided into multiple levels — was identified as a factor that accelerated the spread of flames and complicated suppression efforts. The mezzanine design effectively turns one floor into a multi-story space.

The sixth floor where the current Incheon warehouse fire broke out is also reported to be divided into three levels: a ground level, an M1 floor and an M2 floor. Fire authorities said the two upper levels have no windows, making it even harder to bring the fire under control.

The tightly packed storage arrangement has also been identified as a factor that allowed the fire to grow. During the Deokpyeong blaze, the sheer volume of stacked goods left areas that fire suppressant could not reach, hampering extinguishing efforts.

The sixth floor of the Incheon warehouse similarly features long rows of five-tier shelving, with aisles so narrow that only one adult can pass at a time — a layout that has made it difficult for firefighters to advance inside.

"The rack shelving has collapsed, leaving aisle widths of only about 1.3 meters, and the racks remain in place — it is extremely difficult for our personnel to push through those gaps," said Heo Seok-gyeong, chief of the Incheon West Fire Station.


bbo@heraldcorp.com