Fire at logistics center housing Coupang and other companies forces 950 to evacuate, no injuries

A fire broke out at a logistics center for Coupang and other companies in Incheon at around 5:28 p.m. on Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of 950 people, fire authorities said. No casualties were reported.

Fire authorities dispatched 81 firefighters and 33 pieces of equipment to the building in Wonchang-dong, Seohae District. All 950 people inside the logistics center, including employees, were evacuated as firefighters searched every floor of the building.

Emergency services responded after receiving an emergency call that reported a fire on the first basement level. The fire had already been extinguished by the time firefighters arrived, and only smoke remained around an electrical distribution panel in a mechanical room on the first basement level.

The incident comes about a month after a major fire broke out at a separate Coupang logistics center nearby in Incheon on July 18. It took firefighters 109 hours to fully extinguish that blaze.

Authorities are investigating whether the latest fire may have started in a bus duct, a system of enclosed electrical conductors used to distribute large amounts of power. The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The building is a large logistics warehouse leased by Coupang, which operates five logistics centers at the site.

“We have not yet confirmed whether Coupang also leases and manages the first basement level where the fire broke out,” a fire official said. “Our inspection of each floor found no signs of any additional fires.”

BY SHIN HYE-YEON [lee.jiwon10@joongang.co.kr]