'Electric Vehicle Fire' Incheon Apartment Water Supply Restored After Five Days... Power Outage Still Affects 477 Households

Water supply was resumed after five days at an apartment complex in Incheon where an electric vehicle fire recently occurred in the underground parking lot.

Seo-gu, Incheon announced on the 7th that the restoration of the water pipes at the apartment complex with 1,581 households in Cheongna International City, where the water supply was cut off due to the electric vehicle fire on the 1st, was completed around 4 p.m. the previous day. However, one building with 139 households is still without water due to leakage caused by pipe damage.

Seo-gu expects that it will take several more months to fully repair the temporarily restored water pipes. A Seo-gu official stated, "For now, the water pipes have been temporarily restored so that the affected apartment residents can live their daily lives," adding, "If the weakened water pipes are damaged again, some households may experience water outages once more."

Residents of an apartment with damaged water pipes due to an electric vehicle fire are receiving emergency water supply. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, restoration work to resume power supply to the blackout households is ongoing. The apartment management office informed residents that power supply is expected to be restored on the 9th to 477 households in 4 buildings currently without electricity.

As of the 6th, 822 people from 264 households displaced due to the power and water outages are staying at 10 temporary housing facilities, including the Cheongna 1-dong Administrative Welfare Center.

The fire occurred on the morning of the 1st in a Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle parked in the underground first-floor parking lot of an apartment complex in Cheongna International City, Seo-gu, Incheon.

The fire caused 23 residents and others to inhale smoke and be transported to hospitals, and about 140 vehicles were burned or scorched. Additionally, the temperature inside the parking lot soared above 1,000 degrees Celsius due to the flames, melting underground facilities and pipes, which led to the disruption of water and electricity supply.