Blaze at 7-story factory in Ulsan extinguished after 13 hours

Firefighters on Monday fight a blaze that broke out at a seven-story synthetic fiber manufacturing factory in the southeastern city of Ulsan the previous evening. [YONHAP]

Firefighters managed to put out a blaze that broke out at a synthetic fiber manufacturing factory in the southeastern city of Ulsan on Monday, according to local firefighting authorities.

The fire, which broke out at 6:55 p.m. on Sunday at a seven-story factory of Hyosung TNC, was extinguished after 13 hours, according to the Ulsan Fire Department.

Two workers at the factory were transported to a hospital for smoke inhalation while trying to extinguish the fire during its early stages.

The Ulsan Fire Department said it believes the fire started on a basement floor and spread through an air duct to six upper floors of the same building and a nearby storage warehouse, engulfing a total area of 20,741 square meters (223,250 square feet).

Ulsan Fire Department issued a stage 1 mobilization alert by calling up all of its own available firefighters at 6:55 p.m. on Sunday, and later issued a stage 2 alert calling for backup from nearby areas at 10:36 p.m. as the fire grew rapidly.

A total of 662 firefighters and 84 fire trucks were deployed to contain the blaze, with the Ulsan force receiving assistance from firefighting authorities in the neighboring city of Busan and North and South Gyeongsang provinces.

The fire was finally extinguished completely at approximately 8:00 a.m. Monday, with firefighters using seawater to bring the flames under control.

According to a firefighting official who spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo on the condition of anonymity, the fire proved to be particularly difficult because the wind fanned the flames and prevented water from the fire engine hoses from reaching the blaze.

High-volume water cannons were deployed in the factory fire.

Equipped with 30-centimeter (11.8-inch) diameter large hoses, the cannon system can be connected to the sea up to 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away, drawing seawater and spraying it on the site of the fire.

The system can supply 26 large fire trucks with water to combat fires at any one time. It was introduced in Ulsan as a first in the country at the end of last year.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]