Fire at Hankook Tire Daejeon Plant Continues for 12 Hours... 400,000 Tires Completely Burned and Other Damages

The fire at the Hankook Tire Daejeon factory shows little sign of being extinguished. It is tentatively estimated that some facilities in the factory were completely burned down and 400,000 tires were destroyed in the fire.

According to Daejeon City and fire authorities on the 13th, the fire broke out at around 10:09 PM the previous day at the Hankook Tire Daejeon factory in Moksang-dong, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon, and the flames have not been brought under control for over 12 hours.

The fire is presumed to have started in a machine within the curing process that shapes the tires. Due to the fire, 11 people, including 10 on-site workers and 1 firefighter, sustained minor injuries (such as simple smoke inhalation) and were transported to hospitals. Among the facilities, about 87,000 square meters inside the northern 2nd factory were completely destroyed.

In particular, as a large number of tires burned, the acrid smell and black smoke caused nearby residents to evacuate to places such as the Daedeok Cultural and Sports Center (an evacuation shelter set up by Daedeok-gu). The factory and three adjacent schools (middle and high schools) either closed temporarily or switched to remote classes at their discretion.

The fire authorities issued a Level 3 response starting at 2:10 AM that day and are conducting firefighting operations. When a Level 3 response is issued, firefighting forces from the metropolitan autonomous fire headquarters and available firefighting personnel and equipment from neighboring areas can be fully mobilized.

Currently, nine helicopters (four firefighting helicopters and five from the Korea Forest Service), 148 pieces of equipment, and 751 firefighting personnel are deployed at the fire site conducting extinguishing activities.

The fire authorities are focusing on preventing the flames from spreading to other factories by establishing a defensive line on the road connecting the 2nd factory and the southern 1st factory.

However, due to the nature of tires, once they catch fire, it is difficult to extinguish the flames, making firefighting efforts challenging on site.

Kim Junho, head of the Prevention and Safety Division at the Daejeon Fire Headquarters, said, "We will do our best to prevent the flames from spreading from the 2nd factory to the 1st factory and other areas and to have the fire extinguished within today."