Bucheon metalworking plant fire kills firefighter, injures seven amid safety lapses

A fire broke out on Friday at a four-story metalworking factory in Bucheon, just west of Seoul, and burned for roughly two and a half hours before being fully doused. One firefighter went into cardiac arrest and was later pronounced dead at a hospital, and seven other responders were injured, with at least one sustaining serious injuries. A joint inspection team of firefighters, police, the National Forensic Service and the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation examined the scene on Saturday.

They determined that workers were cleaning metal parts with paint thinner, and that evaporating vapors may have been ignited by a spark from static electricity, an electrical discharge, or frictional heat. The work area lacked proper explosion-prevention safety gear, and investigators noted about a dozen thinner containers, some open, placed only one to two meters from the suspected ignition spot, alongside hundreds of paint cans that likely accelerated the fire’s spread. The team will request a detailed analysis of residual cleaning solvent from the National Forensic Service.