Residents living close to the Coupang Logistics Center in Incheon’s Seohae-gu area were told to evacuate following fears of a possible structural failure.
A fire that started at the Coupang Logistics Center in Incheon on July 18 persisted over the weekend. Even though the National Fire Agency activated a nationwide firefighting response and sent resources, the fire was still not under control by the night of July 19, leading to an evacuation order. Seohae-gu issued the evacuation directive at 11 p.m. on July 19, stating, “Residents within an 116-meter area should evacuate immediately.”
A fire that was not under control has spread to nearby apartment buildings located 1 to 2 kilometers away, producing dense, harmful smoke. Seohae-gu advised that 31 daycare centers close temporarily due to their proximity to the fire, and an elementary school nearby opted to cancel classes for students on July 20.
The fire started approximately 6:54 a.m. on July 18 at the sixth floor of the Coupang Logistics Center located in Seoknam-dong, Seohae-gu, Incheon, and then moved to the seventh floor. Emergency services used high-ladder trucks, large-volume foam spraying systems, advanced chemical tankers, and even firefighting helicopters as the fire was hard to manage.
Nevertheless, efforts to combat the fire have been challenged by the warehouse’s internal layout and the existence of combustible materials within. The building is filled with stacked shelves loaded with merchandise. Firefighters started employing excavators to collapse the exterior wall on the sixth floor in order to release smoke and apply water inside.
Parallel worries regarding fire risks in warehouse buildings were highlighted during the 2021 incident at Coupang’s Deokpyeong Logistics Center in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, where a firefighter lost their life.
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