{"id":92512,"date":"2026-07-20T15:29:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T15:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/92512\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T15:29:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T15:29:29","slug":"lithium-battery-cache-below-coupang-fire-zone-prompts-all-out-containment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/92512\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithium Battery Cache Below Coupang Fire Zone Prompts All-Out Containment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FireFire crews battle a blaze that has continued for a third day at the Coupang 32 Logistics Center in Seongnam-dong, Seo-gu, Incheon, on the morning of the 20th. Reporter Kim Jung-hoon<\/p>\n

As the fire at a Coupang logistics center in Incheon entered its third day, it was found that hundreds of lithium battery-powered logistics robots are deployed on the fifth floor, directly below the sixth floor where the fire first broke out. If the flames spread to the fifth floor, the fire could expand rapidly, prompting firefighting authorities to devote all their efforts to preventing combustion while carrying out extinguishing operations. The firefighting has also become prolonged due to the structural characteristics of the warehouse, where smoke and heat are difficult to escape and combustible materials are densely stacked.<\/p>\n

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On the 20th, firefighting authorities held a briefing near the Coupang No. 32 logistics center in Seoknam-dong, Seo-gu, Incheon, and said, “There are hundreds of warehouse robots that use lithium batteries on the fifth floor,” adding, “If the fire spreads, combustion could expand rapidly across the entire building.” The battery capacity mounted on the robots is known to be equivalent to about 20 electric vehicles.<\/p>\n

Lithium-ion batteries can lead to thermal runaway once ignited, and are not easily extinguished by standard water-spraying methods alone. Firefighting authorities deployed personnel to the fifth floor and positioned 31 special vehicles, including high-reach ladder trucks, on all sides of the building. They are monitoring internal heat accumulation in real time using thermal imaging drones and concentrating firefighting resources on areas with severe combustion.<\/p>\n

The initial ignition point was estimated to be the right section of the sixth floor, based on the ramp used for vehicle entry and exit. The flames then spread to the seventh floor and the left section of the sixth floor. The floor area of the sixth floor is 28,329 square meters, about the size of four soccer fields. According to firefighting authorities, combustible materials such as household goods, cardboard boxes, vinyl, and plastic are stacked in large quantities on high-rise shelves, causing the flames to continue spreading to adjacent items.<\/p>\n

The scarcity of windows, which makes it difficult to draw smoke and heat outside, also hindered the firefighting. With the internal temperature at one point exceeding 150 degrees, personnel access was also restricted. Firefighting authorities are removing part of the exterior wall with an excavator to carry out smoke ventilation, and plan to conduct additional search for victims and damage investigation once smoke and temperatures decrease.<\/p>\n

They are also preparing for the possibility of collapse. Building B, where the major flames have been brought under control, has been found to be at no risk of collapse so far, but if the fire continues for an extended period, the strength of structural members such as steel frames and reinforcing bars could decline. Firefighting authorities have installed collapse alarms at three key points to observe the building’s tilt and structural changes.<\/p>\n

The Incheon Police Agency has formed a dedicated investigation team of 35 officers, including from the regional crime investigation unit and the serious accident investigation section, to determine the cause of the fire and the state of safety management.<\/p>\n

Early on, the possibility was raised that the sprinklers and fire shutters had failed to operate, but so far all have been found to have functioned normally. Nevertheless, the fire continuing into its third day is because the combustible materials are densely packed and the interior structure is complex, making early extinguishing and personnel access difficult. It is pointed out that even if firefighting facilities operate, extinguishing can take a long time if the flames spread between high-rise shelves.<\/p>\n

Warehouse facility fires are on the rise, and property damage tends to be large. According to the National Fire Data System of the National Fire Agency, 816 warehouse facility fires occurred from the beginning of this year through the 19th of this month, killing three people and injuring 33. This already exceeds 60% of the 1,353 total fires last year. Property damage soared from 105.4 billion won in 2023 and 73.9 billion won in 2024 to a record high of 453.2 billion won last year. This year, 97 billion won in damage has occurred through the 19th.<\/p>\n

Ham Seung-hee, a professor in the Department of Fire and Disaster Prevention Engineering at the University of Seoul, said, “In large logistics warehouses, combustible materials are accumulated in large quantities, so if early extinguishing fails, most of the stored items can burn. Buildings that installed disaster prevention facilities according to past standards are difficult to control effectively in the early stages, so measures tailored to the characteristics of logistics warehouses must be supplemented.”<\/p>\n

\"FireFire crews battle a blaze that has continued for a third day at the Coupang 32 Logistics Center in Seongnam-dong, Seo-gu, Incheon, on the morning of the 20th. Reporter Kim Jung-hoon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fire crews battle a blaze that has continued for a third day at the Coupang 32 Logistics Center…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[381],"tags":[48544,426,47684,47868,48543,6051,17280,47870],"class_list":["post-92512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-coupang","tag-collapse-risk","tag-coupang","tag-coupang-logistics-center-fire","tag-incheon-warehouse-fire","tag-lithium-battery-thermal-runaway","tag-logistics-robots","tag-national-fire-agency","tag-warehouse-fire-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}