A fire broke out in a commercial building located in Yatap-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si. The fire was completely extinguished about two hours after it started. Fifty people who were trapped in the basement were all rescued and moved to the ground level. One hundred and fifty people who had evacuated to the rooftop later moved to the first floor and exited the building after the smoke cleared. So far, the number of casualties has been tallied at 28 people, who sustained minor injuries such as smoke inhalation and were transported to hospitals.
According to fire authorities, a report was received at approximately 4:37 p.m. on the 3rd, indicating that a fire had started in the kitchen of a restaurant selling kimbap on the first floor of a mixed-use commercial building with five basement levels and eight above-ground levels in Yatap-dong.
Fire authorities deployed 84 fire trucks, 248 firefighters, and 20 police officers to perform firefighting and rescue operations. Firefighters arrived at the scene five minutes after receiving the 119 emergency call, and the fire authorities issued a level 2 response at 4:43 p.m. A level 2 response is issued when there is concern about potential significant loss of life. Equipment from 8 to 14 fire stations, including 51 to 80 units, is mobilized.
The arrival of the large fire, or initial suppression, was completed 41 minutes after the fire report at 5:16 p.m. The response was downgraded to level 1 at 5:18 p.m. A level 1 response can be handled by the fire station in charge of the area where the fire occurred. Subsequently, the fire was fully extinguished at 6:35 p.m.
By 7 p.m. that day, the number of casualties was recorded as 28 people, who sustained minor injuries such as smoke inhalation. They were classified as sustaining minor injuries and transported to hospitals. Fifty people were trapped from the first to the fifth basement levels of the burning building but were all rescued by fire authorities and moved to the ground level. Twenty elementary school students who were taking swimming lessons in the pool on the first basement level from 4:40 p.m. followed the teacher's guidance and evacuated via stairs to the fifth basement level, then exited the building with the help of on-site firefighters.
One hundred and fifty people evacuated to the building's rooftop and moved to the ground floor once the smoke cleared. Twenty people each were rescued from offices on the fifth and sixth floors. In total, 240 people were rescued by fire authorities. Separately, it was determined that 70 people evacuated on their own.
Fire authorities suspect the fire spread through the exhaust duct from the restaurant kitchen where the fire originated and expanded from the electrical conduit in the parking lot at the rear of the building. Police and fire authorities plan to conduct a joint investigation to determine the exact cause of the fire.
In the initial stages of the fire, the flames were intense and there was a large amount of smoke, which blackened most of the building's exterior walls, but there were few casualties. Fire Prevention Section Chief Kim Heung-bok of Bundang Fire Station explained that this was due to the quick initial response and the fact that the smoke was largely vented outside rather than entering the building.
Kim Yong-jin, 48, who works in an office on the third floor of the building, said, “Black smoke came in between the ceilings 20 seconds after the fire broke out,” adding, “(Colleagues) suggested not to take the elevator and to go to the rooftop, so we went up. Fortunately, the rooftop door was open.”