Blaze starts in Zone 2, spreads to zones 1 and 3

Winds push flames south toward zones 5 and 7

39 residents self-evacuate; no casualties reported

Fire department raises alert to Level 2, deploys 6 helicopters

Flames and smoke billow over Guryong Village in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday. [Provided by reader. Redistribution and DB prohibited]
Flames and smoke billow over Guryong Village in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday. [Provided by reader. Redistribution and DB prohibited]

A fire that broke out in Guryong Village in Gaepodong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, spread rapidly on strong winds Tuesday, leaving 107 people from 77 households without homes. Fire authorities raised their response to Level 2 and continued firefighting operations, but struggled to bring the blaze under control.

According to fire authorities, the fire started around 3:50 p.m. Tuesday in a temporary structure in Zone 2 of Guryong Village.

Authorities issued a Level 1 alert at 3:59 p.m. and upgraded it to Level 2 at 4:29 p.m. as the flames spread.

Strong winds complicated efforts to contain the fire, allowing it to jump across multiple zones.

At a second briefing held around 7:30 p.m., fire authorities said the blaze, which originated in Zone 2, had spread to Zone 1 before shifting south toward Zone 3 due to changing wind direction, with flames reaching as far as the area near Zone 7. They added that the fire had initially moved toward Guryongsan to the west before the wind turned, pushing it south into zones 5 and 7, with zones 1, 2 and 3 sustaining the heaviest damage.

According to the Gangnam-gu District Office, the fire damaged 77 households and displaced 107 residents across zones 1, 2 and 3.

The district office set up temporary shelters at the gymnasiums of Gaepo Middle School and Guryong Middle School for displaced residents.

No casualties have been confirmed so far. Fire authorities said 39 residents evacuated on their own, with no injuries or missing persons reported and no one trapped at the scene.

Heavy smoke from the fire was visible as far away as Dobong-gu in Seoul and Anyang in Gyeonggi Province.

Nearby residents reported hearing multiple loud explosions, believed to be gas canisters igniting.

Fire authorities deployed 232 firefighters along with 110 pieces of equipment, including six helicopters.

Police mobilized 256 officers for crowd control and safety management at the scene, while 308 public health workers were also dispatched.

Guryong Village is often called the last shantytown in the Gangnam area of Seoul. Located along Yangjae-daero, it formed in the 1970s and 1980s when residents displaced by Gangnam's rapid development settled in the area.

The village spans an area roughly equivalent to 40 soccer fields and is divided into eight zones.

According to the Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH), the number of households in Guryong Village has fallen from a peak of 1,107 to about 54 as redevelopment has progressed.

Designated as an urban development zone in 2016, the village is slated to be replaced by around 2,000 units of public housing in buildings up to 28 stories tall.

Zone 2, where Tuesday's fire started, sits at the foot of Guryongsan and borders Yangjae-daero.

The dense concentration of shacks in Guryong Village makes fires particularly dangerous. Many of the structures are built with highly flammable materials — including insulating cotton batting, vinyl sheeting and plywood — and the narrow gaps between buildings allow flames to spread quickly.

Narrow access roads make it difficult for fire trucks to reach the scene, and a tangle of liquefied petroleum gas canisters and electrical wiring adds further obstacles to firefighting efforts.

A major fire also struck Guryong Village earlier this year. A blaze that started in Zone 4 on Jan. 16 spread to the neighboring zones 5 and 6, forcing 258 residents to evacuate.

At the time, fire authorities raised a Level 2 alert in anticipation that the fire could spread to Guryongsan, and fully extinguished the blaze in about six and a half hours.

Tuesday's fire continued to shift direction with the wind, and firefighting operations were ongoing to prevent further damage.


sjy@heraldcorp.com