"Coupang Officials Ignore 'Boy Who Cried Wolf' Despite Two Reports"

On the 17th, the Coupang Deokpyeong Logistics Center in Majang-myeon, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, where a fire broke out, is now exposed like a bombed-out skeleton. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Choyoung] During the fire at Coupang Deokpyeong Logistics Center in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province on the 17th, it is claimed that a worker reported the fire twice, but Coupang security guards dismissed it as a "false alarm" and said "you'll become the boy who cried wolf."

According to the Blue House's public petition board, the petitioner, who identified themselves as "a worker who discovered the fire 10 minutes earlier than the first reporter," posted an article titled "The Deokpyeong Coupang Logistics Center fire was not the first" on the 20th, explaining the situation at the time.

The petitioner said, "I was working on the first floor on the 17th," and added, "The fire alarm sounded from around 5:10 to 5:15 a.m., but I couldn't stop what I was doing. Since frequent false fire alarms had occurred, I perceived this alarm as a false alarm like on other days."

He continued, "Around 5:26 a.m., while leaving work, I noticed smoke filling the area under the stairs leading to the 1.5th floor and smoke rising from below," and "The center's shutter doors were also being closed due to the fire alarm." According to this petition, the official fire report was received at 5:36 a.m., indicating a time gap of at least 10 minutes from the fire occurrence.

A petition posted on the Blue House National Petition Board on the 20th. Photo by Blue House National Petition Board capture

The petitioner said, "Upon realizing the fire, I started running toward the entrance with the night shift workers, but on the way, I saw many people near the hub area still unaware of the fire and working," and "I stopped and ran frantically toward my colleagues in the hub, shouting, 'This is not a false alarm, there really is a fire!'"

He added, "I thought colleagues who left earlier would report or take action, and I believed security guards at the entrance checkpoint could respond faster," and "I reported that the fire alarm was not a false alarm and requested action."

However, the entrance security guard dismissed it, saying, "There is no fire, so don't worry about it and just go home." When he sought action from other personnel, he was laughed off with comments like, "False alarms happen often, so if you say there's a fire, you'll become the boy who cried wolf."

He wrote, "I felt ashamed of the consistent responses from the officials," and "Whenever I close my eyes, I recall the smiling faces of those officials, which is painful." He added, "I thought if I had found a phone and reported instead of looking for Coupang management officials, the fire might have been extinguished early and ended safely."

He also lamented, "Frequent problems such as power outages and false fire alarms occurred regularly, but Coupang never implemented or prepared fundamental countermeasures," and "The sprinklers, which were turned off due to frequent false alarms, did not operate on the day of the fire until all workers evacuated by themselves instead of an evacuation broadcast."

Testimony post about the 'Coupang Deokpyeong Logistics Center cigarette fire' uploaded on an online community. Photo by Online Community Capture

The petitioner shared a '3-year-old experience of a cigarette fire at Coupang Deokpyeong Logistics Center' posted on a community site and mentioned Coupang's safety negligence issue.

He pointed out, "There was already a fire accident caused by a cigarette at the Deokpyeong Coupang Logistics Center three years ago," and "Responsibility for the fire accident three years ago was not clarified, preventive measures were insufficient, management was lax, and serious safety negligence without change became an accident anyone could notice."

He appealed, "I hope that, beyond accurate responsibility determination and strong punishment, this time a proper recurrence prevention plan will be established and thoroughly implemented so that fire response can be improved, and that efforts will be made until the end."

The police are investigating by summoning employees of the logistics center management company and Coupang officials. A police official said, "We will look into the cause of the fire and non-compliance with safety measures and keep all suspicions open during the investigation."