Cause of fire at Mungyeong meat processing plant in January identified
On January 31, a fire broke out at a four-story meat processing factory in Singi-dong, Mungyeong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and two firefighters who were extinguishing the fire were found dead after being isolated inside. Mungyeong = News 1 It was revealed that the fire accident at a meat products manufacturing plant that took the lives of two young firefighters in Mungyeong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do on January 31 this year could have been prevented in advance. Two days before the accident, factory officials forcibly turned off the fire alarm because it was going off frequently, and firefighters who responded to the scene were not even informed that cooking oil was accumulating inside the factory. It was discovered that a fire broke out in an electric fryer in the factory when the temperature controller malfunctioned and overheated.
A fellow firefighter who attended the joint funeral ceremony for the late fire chief Kim Soo-gwang (27) and firefighter Su-hoon Park (35), who died in the line of duty while working to extinguish a meat processing plant at the Gyeongbuk Provincial Office in Andong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do on February 3, could not hold back tears while saluting the funeral procession. The sight of sobbing. Andong = Reporter Park Hyeong-gi oneshot@donga.com
On the 13th, the National Fire Agency announced the ‘Results of a joint investigation into the Mungyeong, Gyeongsangbuk-do fatality accident and measures to prevent recurrence,’ containing the results of this investigation. Immediately after the accident, the National Fire Agency formed a joint investigation committee with 25 members, including field crews and external experts, to identify the cause of the fire and analyze safety management issues for 30 days.
● Edible food was heated due to malfunction of the safety device.
As a result of the investigation, the fire started in an electric fryer on the third floor of the factory at around 7:35, 12 minutes before 7:47 p.m. on January 31 when a report was received to the 119 situation room. The conclusion is that it is highly likely that the cooking oil in the fryer overheated to 383 degrees, which is above the ignition point, and caused a fire due to a malfunction of the temperature controller. The fire that started here spread rapidly as it spread to a tank where 982L of edible oil was stored.
CCTV footage of firefighters entering the burning factory to rescue people during a fire at a 4-story meat processing factory in Singi-dong, Mungyeong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do on January 31. Donga Ilbo DB
There was an alarm installed inside the factory that would sound in case of a fire, but factory officials had forcibly turned it off on January 29th. For this reason, the 119 report was not received at the beginning of the fire, but only after the fire spread within the third floor. Bae Deok-gon, Planning Coordinator at the National Fire Agency, said, “A factory official stated that the alarm sometimes malfunctioned and was turned off because it was a place where food was processed using cooking oil, creating a high-temperature environment.” He added, “If the alarm had operated normally in the beginning, the fire would have been discovered sooner.” “We could have responded earlier,” he explained.
It was found that the firefighters who responded to the scene were not informed that there was a large amount of cooking oil inside the factory. Unaware of this, firefighters opened the door to enter the third floor, allowing air to flow in, causing the high-temperature flammable gas inside the factory to explode, causing the ceiling to collapse, and two firefighters were stranded at the scene. Kim Jo-il, deputy chief of the National Fire Agency, said, “It was found that inaccurate information about cooking oil was conveyed and information on field activities, such as the start of waterproofing, was insufficiently shared.”
● Prepare measures to prevent recurrence, such as sandwich panel management
In particular, this factory had a sandwich panel structure that was vulnerable to fire, so combustion rapidly expanded, and crews who succeeded in escaping attempted to rescue their colleagues, but were unable to re-enter. Accordingly, the National Fire Agency plans to strengthen the safety standards for sandwich panel buildings in consultation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to prevent recurrence. In addition, we decided to consult with the National Agency for Technology and Standards to strengthen safety technology for cooking oil handling machines and equipment from the manufacturing stage.
It was decided to completely revise the standard disaster site procedures that must be followed at the scene, focusing on the safety of dispatched crews. A National Fire Agency official announced the revised policy, saying, “We will ensure that rescue workers do not enter the fire scene when the risk to be taken is greater than the benefit to be protected.”
On February 2, citizens came to the incense burner for the late fire chief Kim Soo-gwang (27) and Su-hoon Park (35) at the Mungyeong Fire Station in Gyeongsangbuk-do, laying flowers and offering condolences. Mungyeong = Reporter Park Hyeong-gi oneshot@donga.com
In order to quickly disseminate information essential for on-site response, we decided to improve the preventive information system, including mobile radio waves, and also improve the radio communication function. We plan to organize a rapid rescue team to quickly rescue a member if he or she goes missing or is stranded.
The police plan to decide whether to file criminal charges against the factory officials based on the fire department’s investigation results and the National Institute of Forensic Science’s analysis results. Fire authorities explained, “It will be difficult to avoid legal responsibility for stopping firefighting facilities, such as turning off alarms.” In response to the point that the rescue team that the deceased member belonged to was not at capacity, Deputy Director Kim said, “We are working to reallocate personnel more efficiently.”
Reporter Lee Chaewan chaewani@donga.com
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2024-03-13 09:21:00
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