At about 6:05 a.m. on the 29th, a fire broke out in an electric vehicle that was charging in the second basement level parking lot of an 11-story officetel in Burim-dong, Masanhappo District, Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. The vehicle was known to be the EV6, Kia's compact electric sport utility vehicle (SUV).
Fifteen people, including residents living in the officetel, inhaled smoke and were taken to hospitals, and more than 100 people evacuated. One firefighter who worked to put out the blaze suffered minor injuries, including a finger injury, and was transported to a hospital. Fortunately, all are believed to be out of life-threatening condition.
According to police, the electric vehicle in question was charging when the fire started. The owner of the EV, identified as A, reportedly told police that "the previous evening, as usual, I connected a charger to the EV in the underground parking lot to charge it," and "after the fire broke out, I realized the fire had started in my car."
The electric vehicle that caught fire was completely burned, and the parking lot walls and other areas were also scorched, but the fire did not spread to other cars. Fire authorities deployed 28 fire engines and 115 personnel, extinguishing the blaze at about 9:11 a.m., roughly three hours after it started. However, smoke still lingered in some areas, and work was underway to ventilate the smoke.
Police and fire authorities plan to move the burned electric vehicle out of the underground parking lot and conduct a joint forensic inspection. They also plan to investigate the exact cause of the incident by questioning the caller who reported hearing an explosion at the time of the fire and the building manager.