As a fire at a Coupang Inc warehouse in Incheon burns into its third day, authorities are confronting what they describe as a worst-case scenario. Heat has been building inside the structure, raising the possibility of a collapse, and it has emerged that large quantities of lithium batteries are stored on the fifth floor — directly below where the fire broke out. Fire authorities are mounting an all-out response, including installing collapse warning devices, to prevent the blaze from spreading to the lithium batteries, which would be extremely difficult to extinguish.
Heo Seok-gyeong, chief of the Incheon West Fire Station, said Monday at a command post near the scene in Seongseok-dong, Seohaegu, Incheon, that all available firefighting resources were being concentrated on stopping the fire from spreading to the fifth floor. "Given the scale of the warehouse and the large volume of combustible materials inside, we expect it will take considerable time to fully extinguish the fire," he said.
The reason authorities are focused on keeping the fire away from the fifth floor is the lithium batteries stored there. The floor directly below the sixth-floor origin of the fire holds lithium batteries equivalent in capacity to roughly 20 large electric vehicle battery packs.
"Hundreds of warehouse logistics robots powered by lithium batteries are located on the fifth floor," Heo said. "If the fire spreads there, it could engulf the entire building rapidly, so we sent firefighters inside to hold the line and prevent it from advancing."
Measures have also been taken to minimize damage in the event of a structural collapse. Combustible materials inside the warehouse continue to burn, causing heat to accumulate. Heo said authorities had carefully assessed the collapse risk and installed warning devices at four key points in the building. "We have set them up so that an alarm sounds immediately if any sign of collapse is detected," he said.
He added that a partial collapse toward the parking ramp had been identified as a possibility, but said cooling operations had been carried out and that a significant portion of the combustible materials inside had already been consumed. "We have assessed that the collapse risk is gradually decreasing," he said.
With the fire still not under control, an evacuation order covering a 116-meter radius around the warehouse remains in effect. As of 1 p.m. Monday, 169 residents had taken shelter at two evacuation centers — Sinhyeon Elementary School and Sinhyeon Buk Elementary School. Fire authorities said they could not give a precise timeline for lifting the evacuation order.
The fire broke out at around 7 a.m. Saturday at the Coupang Inc warehouse and has now burned for more than 55 hours. A national fire mobilization order remains in place, with 812 personnel and 231 pieces of equipment deployed to fight the blaze.
20ki@heraldcorp.com
