A fire that broke out on July 18 at a large logistics center in Incheon took 109 hours to extinguish completely. The eight-story building, with a total floor area of 300,000 square meters, prompted a national firefighting mobilization order, and nearby residents were advised to evacuate due to the potential for structural collapse.
A key point to note is that, according to firefighting authorities, the fire shutter and sprinklers operated normally. The company had also strengthened its fire detection and response systems, and the center's firefighting equipment met legal standards. Nevertheless, it took 61 hours to bring the blaze under control. This gap highlights the fundamental issues facing the domestic logistics infrastructure today.
As e-commerce has grown and competition for efficiency has intensified, warehouses have become larger and taller. To store more products in limited space, stacking structures have become vertical, and automation equipment, packaging materials, and electrical installations have become more densely packed. While operational efficiency has increased, the potential for fire and the pathways for flames to spread have also expanded.
In high-stacking warehouses, flames and heat can quickly travel vertically between racks. In environments dense with packaging materials like cardboard, plastic, and film, even a small spark can spread rapidly over a wide area. When the interior of a building is spacious and smoke and heat accumulate, it becomes difficult for firefighters to enter and locate the source of the fire. The extent of damage from a warehouse fire hinges not merely on whether a fire occurs, but on how effectively the flames are suppressed in the early stages.
Many companies view the installation of sprinklers as a form of risk management. However, the gap between design standards and actual operating conditions can widen over time. For instance, if the stacking height increases or the types of goods handled change, the fire load may differ from when the facility was completed. When products and packaging boxes are tightly stacked, water may not reach the innermost and lower sections even if it reaches the top of the racks. Meeting legal standards does not guarantee effective fire suppression.
Ultimately, warehouse fires are not merely a matter of the performance of specific equipment; they represent a complex system risk intertwined with storage structures, firefighting design, and operational methods. These risks must be assessed from the design stage, and re-evaluated whenever operational methods change. It is essential to verify whether water reaches the innermost sections of racks during actual loading conditions, to separate hazardous items, and to reassess fire compartments and detection systems according to operational realities.
There are cases where preparation before an incident has changed the speed of recovery. At a facility of the UK-based waste and recycling company Cori Group, a power supply issue caused a 60-ton turbine to stop within 97 seconds, resulting in losses exceeding £30 million. This incident underscores the impact of major equipment failures on business operations and the importance of prior preparation, which is highly relevant for logistics facilities.
Before the incident, Cori Group conducted a workshop with its insurance company to simulate loss scenarios in the event of a turbine failure. When the actual incident occurred, they activated their recovery plan based on the scenarios they had prepared. Within 48 hours of the incident, they confirmed the scope of insurance coverage and response direction, and despite the significant losses, they completed the insurance payout process in about nine months. While they could not prevent the incident itself, having established roles, decision-making structures, and recovery procedures in advance helped reduce uncertainty and operational downtime.
Domestic logistics companies should not limit their assessments to the possibility of fire. They must prepare for what functions to transfer when a key hub is halted. Specific scenarios should be validated, including alternative storage facilities, delivery routes, inventory data recovery plans, insurance coverage, and decision-making authority.
Logistics centers are no longer just warehouses; they are critical infrastructure supporting a company's supply chain. The important question is not 'how much can be stored?' but 'how can operations continue under any circumstances?' A company's competitiveness is determined not by the volume of inventory but by its ability to maintain operations and recover quickly in times of crisis. Efficiency and safety are not mutually exclusive; they must be designed together from the outset.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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