Article : Another Warehouse Tragedy Involving Toxic Fumes

A fire in the basement of a cold storage warehouse in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province left seven people dead and five seriously injured.
The tragedy follows a previous fire in the basement of a cold storage warehouse in January that took the lives of 40 people just 6 km away from the scene of the latest incident. The causes of both accidents were identical. Sparks set off by a welder ignited combustible material.
Sprinklers had been installed in the facility back in January, but set to manual mode in order to prevent the pipes freezing in cold weather. This meant they failed to function during the fire. At the cold storage facility where the latest accident happened, 3,950 sprinklers were installed, but failed to function.
Both facilities used Styrofoam panels sandwiched by thick metal plates as wall dividers. Styrofoam or polyurethane foam is often used, due to its affordability and insulation. But both are highly combustible and generate toxic fumes which, if they catch fire, can render a person unconscious in seconds.
At a similar fire in Busan in 1998, 27 workers lost their lives spraying polyurethane foam onto walls. Tragic fires at cold storage facilities in Iksan, North Jeolla Province in 2003 and on Jeju Island in 2007 had the same characteristics.
Fire experts confirm styrofoam and polyurethane foam are extremely flammable. Buildings containing these materials turn into toxic gas generators if set alight. It is simply appalling that workers were welding without taking precautionary measures to contain the sparks they were generating.
Fire fighters, warehouse operators, maintenance officials and construction workers must realize that cold storage facilities can easily turn into fatal gas chambers. Until they do, these tragedies will continue to repeat themselves.


Chloe's comment :
When I first heard of this news, I just couldn't believe it. I even thought that the news was talking about the accident which happened last january. It was the same region and exactly the same way that the fire took place. The problems that were pointed out a year ago still existed and causd the tragedy there. Thus, I cannot call it 'an accident'. It was what we could have prevented. I am so sorry about the victims. I expect some serious actions that are repeating again and again.