11 people injured in Hankook Tire factory fire

Flames and smoke shoot up in the air in Daejeon Sunday evening as a fire broke out at a Hankook Tire factory. [YONHAP]

A fire broke out at a Hankook Tire factory at around 10:09 p.m. Sunday in Daejeon, injuring 11 people as of Monday morning.

The local fire department in Daejeon issued a level three warning with strong winds and dry conditions increasing the risk of flames and smoke spreading.

After receiving a report that a fire had broken out in a machine inside the Hankook Tire factory in Moksang-dong in Daedeok District, the Daejeon fire department issued a level one response at 10:17 p.m. and raised it to level two at 10:34 p.m. and level three at 2:10 a.m. Monday.

The different levels indicate the severity of the fire and the level of response required.

As of Monday morning, 431 firefighters have been deployed to extinguish the fire and special heavy-duty equipment has been requested from the Ulsan fire department.

Of the 11 injured, 10 were workers at the factory and one was a firefighter.

It is estimated that the fire occurred near the rubber vulcanization equipment in Factory 2 of the north compound of the facility, according to the Daejeon fire department.

"We are doing our best to prevent the fire from Factory 2 from spreading to Factory 1 in the south of the factory compound," said Ahn Bong-ho, head of the Daejeon Fire Station. "We are working to destroy the link between the two facilities so that the fire does not spread."

It will take some time to extinguish the blaze because the factory is built with prefabricated panels and contains a lot of combustible materials, according to the Daejeon fire department.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]