Firefighters battle a blaze at a hazardous materials storage warehouse in Tojin-ri, Cheongbuk-eup, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday. [Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Headquarters]
Firefighters battle a blaze at a hazardous materials storage warehouse in Tojin-ri, Cheongbuk-eup, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday. [Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Headquarters]

A major fire at a hazardous materials storage warehouse in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, was fully extinguished Tuesday after more than 21 hours of firefighting operations.

The blaze broke out late at night at what is considered the country's largest specialized logistics facility storing flammable chemicals, raising fears of a catastrophic disaster — but firefighters brought it under control with no casualties.

The fire started at around 12:03 a.m. Tuesday in a single-story warehouse building with a total floor area of 937 square meters, one of seven structures at the PJK Pyeongtaek 1 Center in Tojin-ri, Cheongbuk-eup, Pyeongtaek, according to Yonhap.

The warehouse is licensed to store up to 1.91 million liters of materials, including more than 100 types of Class 4 hazardous substances — flammable liquids such as special flammables and petroleum products — as well as general chemicals.

Fearing the fire could spread due to the chemical contents, fire authorities escalated their response to Level 1 — mobilizing 31 to 50 vehicles — at 1:32 a.m., about an hour and 20 minutes after the fire broke out, then raised it to Level 2, calling in 51 to 80 vehicles, at 2:40 a.m.

When the situation failed to improve, fire authorities issued a national fire mobilization order at 3:39 a.m.

The National Fire Agency chief issues the order when a fire exceeds the capacity of a single city or province to handle, or when national-level firefighting resources are needed.

In response, four neighboring regions — South Chungcheong Province, Sejong, North Chungcheong Province and Daejeon — dispatched 28 water tankers and chemical fire trucks.

In total, fire authorities deployed 102 pieces of equipment and 255 personnel in the suppression effort.

As the flames came under control, fire authorities declared initial containment at 9:08 a.m. — a stage at which the fire can be controlled and the risk of further spread is considered eliminated.

The national fire mobilization order was lifted at around 11 a.m., and firefighters declared the blaze fully extinguished at around 9:17 p.m. after completing mop-up operations.

No casualties were confirmed.

The national fire mobilization order was first issued in April 2019 during a large wildfire in Gangwon Province. Tuesday's fire was recorded as the 56th such order.

The PJK Pyeongtaek 1 Center is the largest single-site hazardous materials and toxic chemical storage facility in the country's specialized logistics sector.

Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze at a hazardous materials storage warehouse in Tojin-ri, Cheongbuk-eup, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]
Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze at a hazardous materials storage warehouse in Tojin-ri, Cheongbuk-eup, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]

According to the company's website, the facility sits on a total site area of 26,793 square meters with a combined floor area of 9,214 square meters, comprising six warehouse buildings standing 21.2 meters tall and one administrative building at 7 meters.

Each warehouse ranges from 924 to 1,716 square meters and is equipped with refrigeration, cold storage, temperature-controlled and humidity-controlled systems for storing Class 4 hazardous substances and toxic chemicals.

The combined hazardous materials storage capacity across all seven buildings totals 12.55 million liters.

PJK Pyeongtaek 1 Center says it also stores large quantities of finished electric vehicle battery products and raw materials, though it has not been confirmed whether any battery-related products were present in the warehouse building where the fire broke out.

The core strategy of the firefighting operation was holding the defensive line.

Given the nature of the facility — which stores large quantities of hazardous materials — fire authorities opted for long-range water discharge rather than sending personnel inside.

At the same time, they divided the scene into four sectors and established a layered defensive perimeter to prevent the fire from spreading to adjacent buildings.

Specialized units including the Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Headquarters' special response team and the Central 119 Rescue Service's chemical rescue unit were also deployed to bolster the effort.

As the fire weakened, authorities downgraded the response level from Level 2 to Level 1 before lifting the alert altogether at around 8:30 a.m.

After declaring initial containment at 9:08 a.m., fire authorities formed a joint control team with Pyeongtaek city and other relevant agencies to carry out decontamination work, preventing firefighting water mixed with hazardous substances from flowing into nearby waterways.

Although full extinguishment took considerable time, damage was limited to two of the seven buildings, both of which were completely destroyed.

The two burned buildings had licensed storage capacities of 1.91 million liters and 1.63 million liters respectively. With the total capacity across all buildings reaching 12.55 million liters, a wider spread could have triggered a major disaster — a scenario that was narrowly averted.

The risk was compounded by the fact that the buildings within the PJK Pyeongtaek 1 Center are clustered just meters apart, with several other factories and logistics warehouses standing within roughly 100 meters. Despite this, the incident ended without a single casualty, including among firefighters.

Police and fire authorities plan to investigate the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage.


husn7@heraldcorp.com