SPC Samlip Siwha Plant Fire Tentatively Concluded to Have Started at Oven Exhaust Duct

Joint Inspection by Police, Fire Authorities, and National Forensic Service Completed...Detailed Analysis Underway
Further Analysis Needed to Determine Electrical or Mechanical Causes

The fire at the SPC Samlip Siwha plant located in Jeongwang-dong, Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, has been tentatively determined to have started at an oven exhaust duct.

Yonhap News Agency

On the 5th, officials from the Forensic Science Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, the Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters, and the National Forensic Service conducted a joint on-site inspection for about four hours starting at 10:30 a.m. They announced that the initial ignition occurred at the exhaust duct connected to an oven near the bread production line on the third floor of the plant.

However, it has not yet been confirmed whether the fire was caused by an electrical factor, a mechanical defect, or some other cause. The police sent residual substances collected from inside the exhaust duct to the National Forensic Service for detailed component analysis and do not plan to conduct additional on-site inspections. The exact cause of the fire is expected to be determined once the National Forensic Service issues its appraisal results.

The fire broke out at around 2:59 p.m. on the 3rd at the bread production line on the third floor of Building R at the SPC Samlip Siwha plant. The fire authorities issued Response Level 1 at 3:06 p.m. and began firefighting operations, completely extinguishing the blaze at 10:49 p.m., about 7 hours and 50 minutes later. A total of 67 pieces of equipment and 140 firefighters were mobilized for the operation.

At the time of the fire, a total of 544 people were working at the plant, with 50 people on the first and second floors and 12 people on the third floor of the affected building. All 62 of them evacuated on their own, but three people - a woman in her 40s and a man in his 20s and a man in his 50s - were taken to the hospital due to smoke inhalation.

The police said that no suspects have been booked so far and that they are continuing to question plant officials as reference witnesses. The SPC Samlip Siwha plant has suspended operation of its entire production line since the fire. The company explained that key products such as bread and hamburger buns are being produced instead at other plants in Seongnam and Daegu and through external partners.