Fire walls never deployed, sprinklers may have been blocked, worker says of Incheon Coupang Inc warehouse blaze

Questions have emerged over whether fire walls, sprinklers and other fire-suppression systems at the Incheon Coupang Inc logistics center failed to function properly, potentially allowing the blaze to spread unchecked.

The fire broke out at the Coupang Inc logistics center in Seoknam-dong, Seohaegu — an eight-story, above-ground facility spanning 299,000 square meters. Firefighting operations were still under way more than 32 hours after the fire started, as of Sunday afternoon.

A worker identified only by the surname Kim, who said he had worked at the logistics center for more than a year and was primarily stationed on the sixth floor where the fire originated, told Yonhap that the floor was divided into three zones, each equipped with automatic fire-wall shutters designed to descend in the event of a fire. He said workers were instructed not to stack goods near the shutters so they could deploy without obstruction.

"There were times when alarms went off due to malfunctions in the fire suppression equipment, but I never once saw the fire wall come down automatically — not a single time," Kim said. He added that coworkers shared the same view, saying the fire would not have spread so far had the fire walls worked properly.

Kim, who had also been at the facility on Thursday, said he suspected the sprinklers had similarly failed to do their job. He said the sixth floor had a mezzanine-style interior, with products stacked tightly in boxes on each level. "Even if the sprinklers had activated, the water from the ceiling would have been blocked by the stacked boxes," he said.

Kim also said the sixth floor had long had a recurring smell of something burning. "There was occasionally a smell like electrical wiring burning," he said, adding that workers had long worried a fire would eventually break out there. He said he once reported the smell to a manager, who acknowledged it and said he would look into it. "I saw people from the facilities team and the safety team come by, but I don't know whether anything was actually done," he said.

Meanwhile, fire authorities said Sunday they expected to bring the blaze under initial control late that evening. A total of 221 pieces of equipment and 575 firefighters and police officers were deployed at the scene under a national fire mobilization order. Heo Seok-gyeong, chief of the Incheon West Fire Station, said pinpointing an exact time was difficult given the many variables involved, but added that as of 7 a.m. Sunday, authorities had roughly estimated initial containment around 16 hours later, at approximately 11 p.m.