Fire at Pyeongtaek Kwangdong Pharmaceutical Factory Extinguished in About an Hour... "No Casualties"

Over 50 Equipment Units and About 110 Personnel Deployed, No Casualties Reported

A fire that broke out at around 7:15 PM on the 1st at the Kwangdong Pharmaceutical Food Factory in Jangdang-dong, Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do was mostly extinguished within about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] A fire at the Kwangdong Pharmaceutical food factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do was extinguished after about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

According to the fire authorities, a fire broke out at the Kwangdong Pharmaceutical food factory in Jangdang-dong, Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do at around 7:15 PM on the 1st. The fire, mostly extinguished after about 1 hour and 20 minutes, was confirmed to have started on the second floor of the factory building, which is a steel-framed concrete structure with a total area of about 16,000㎡.

A security company employee reported to 119 that "smoke was coming from the factory," and the fire authorities, upon receiving the report, judged that the fire was not small. About 15 minutes after the report was received, at around 7:32 PM, they issued a Level 1 response alert, and 4 minutes later, upgraded the alarm to Level 2.

Level 1 response mobilizes equipment from 3 to 7 neighboring fire stations, deploying 31 to 50 units, while Level 2 response mobilizes equipment from 8 to 14 fire stations, deploying 51 to 80 units.

At the fire scene, about 50 pieces of equipment including pump trucks and about 110 firefighters were deployed for firefighting operations. Then, at around 8:14 PM, the flames subsided somewhat, and the alarm was downgraded back to Level 1. By around 8:37 PM, the major flames were controlled, and currently, mop-up operations are underway.

The factory was not in operation at the time of the fire, so except for security personnel, it was confirmed to be empty. All personnel present at the scene evacuated safely, and no casualties occurred.

However, parts of the second and third floors of the building and some interior fixtures were burned. The fire authorities plan to investigate the exact cause of the fire once mop-up operations are completed.