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Firefighters operate firefighting equipment to extinguish a blaze at the Coupang 32 Fulfillment Center in Seongnam-dong, Seohae-gu, Incheon on July 20. / Photo by Reporter Song Eui-ju

The Incheon Coupang fulfillment center, where flames burned for three days following a fire on July 18, was found to have suffered a previous fire three years ago. The facility also received 25 safety warnings during a fire inspection earlier this year.

According to the Incheon Fire Headquarters on July 21, a fire of unknown origin broke out in a first-basement cold storage room at the Coupang fulfillment center in Seongnam-dong, Seohae-gu, Incheon, at around 4:29 a.m. on August 15, 2023.

Dispatched following a report from a nearby convenience store worker, fire authorities issued a Level 1 response—mobilizing all personnel from the local fire station—and deployed 160 firefighters alongside 52 units of equipment. Following a 12-hour firefighting operation, the blaze was fully extinguished at 5:51 a.m. the next day. While no casualties were reported, the incident caused property damage estimated at 3.949 billion won, destroying two areas of the cold storage room and scorching interior facility walls.

During a comprehensive fire safety inspection conducted across six areas from February 23 to March 27 this year, the center received 25 citations, including three for fire extinguishing equipment, 13 for alarm systems, three for evacuation structures, and six for fire doors and other areas.

However, fire authorities view it as unreasonable to link those citations directly to the cause of the recent fire. Citations for the sixth floor, where the latest fire is presumed to have originated, were limited to three minor issues, such as repairing detached detector pipe connections. Coupang submitted a corrective action completion report to the fire department on May 11.

Meanwhile, firefighters achieved initial control of the blaze at the Incheon Coupang 32 Fulfillment Center at 8:00 p.m. on July 20, 61 hours after it first broke out. The logistics facility covers a total floor area of 299,000 square meters across eight storys above ground, with the fire presumed to have started on the sixth floor before spreading to the seventh.

                                                                                                              Lee Ha-eun