Fires of unknown origin that occurred in fried food establishments, such as chicken restaurants, were found to be caused by spontaneous combustion of fried residue, as determined by a joint experiment conducted by the police and fire authorities.
The fire investigation team of the forensic science division at the Daejeon Police Agency and the fire investigation team of the Daejeon Fire Headquarters announced on the 26th that they confirmed the possibility of spontaneous combustion from accumulated fried residue through a joint fire reenactment experiment.
It is a result of the oil components in the fried residue meeting oxygen, accumulating heat, and then causing smoke without flames, which subsequently leads to the deformation and ignition of the plastic container due to the heat.
According to the two agencies, over the past three years, about 10 fires have occurred in fried food establishments, such as chicken restaurants in the Daejeon area, which were presumed to be spontaneous combustions, but the exact cause was not identified.
On Oct. 20, at a restaurant in Galma-dong, Seo District, a fire started on fried residue during the discharge of heated frying oil and was extinguished within six minutes. A similar fire, suspected to have been caused by fried residue, occurred on the 3rd in a chicken restaurant in Daedeok District, resulting in the complete destruction of the entire shopping complex.
To determine the exact cause of the fire, these agencies created an environment similar to the situation at the time of the damage and conducted two reenactment experiments, confirming that spontaneous combustion occurs in fried residue approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes later.
A Daejeon Police Agency official said, “It is significant that the cause was identified through the first joint experiment by the two agencies,” and added, “Since it has been confirmed that fires can occur due to spontaneous combustion from fried residue, we urge fried food establishments to discard fried residue immediately after cooking.”