Firefighter collapses from exhaustion as Incheon Coupang warehouse blaze burns past 24 hours

A firefighter was hospitalized with exhaustion symptoms while battling the blaze at a Coupang Inc warehouse in Incheon.

According to the Incheon Fire Department on Sunday, a firefighter in his 40s, identified only by his surname initial A, showed signs of exhaustion around 10:20 p.m. Saturday near the Coupang 32 warehouse in Seognam-dong, Seohaegu.

He had been carrying out safety management duties at the scene when he began showing symptoms. He was treated at a hospital and later discharged.

The incident brought to two the total number of firefighters hospitalized in connection with the fire. Another firefighter in his 40s, who had been working on a ladder truck Saturday, was also taken to hospital after inhaling smoke.

The fire at the Incheon Coupang warehouse has burned for more than 24 hours, with authorities attributing the prolonged blaze to the vast volume of combustible goods stored inside the building and the dense smoke they produce.

Jeon Jae-in, head of the 119 disaster response division at the Incheon West Fire Station, told a briefing at the scene that the sixth floor of the warehouse where the fire broke out is a large-scale storage facility with three-tier shelving packed with household goods and other combustible materials. The lifestyle products stacked on those shelves have been burning and generating large quantities of toxic black smoke that has filled the building, delaying firefighters' entry and suppression efforts, he said.

The fire broke out at around 6:54 a.m. Saturday and had still not been extinguished as of 8 a.m. Sunday. Authorities have maintained a national fire mobilization order, deploying 221 pieces of equipment and 575 firefighters and police officers to the scene. The warehouse spans a total floor area of 299,000 square meters across eight above-ground floors, and its vast interior has made extinguishing the blaze a prolonged effort.