A fire that erupted before 9 a.m. Thursday at a metal-parts coating factory in Bucheon’s Ojeong district injured seven people, five of them firefighters, and prompted President Lee Jae-myung to order an all-out rescue and firefighting push as Gyeonggi authorities warned residents to stay indoors amid heavy smoke.
Gyeonggi fire officials said the blaze was reported at 8:38 a.m. at a four-story plant in Naedong that handles metal injection printing and coating. Flames began in a third-floor cleaning room where flammable Class 4 liquids are stored, according to early accounts from plant staff. Within 19 minutes the incident escalated to a Level 1 response; at 9:09 a.m. commanders raised it to Level 2, pulling crews from five or six neighboring stations.
Casualties and hospital transfers
By late morning, officials counted seven injured: five firefighters and two factory workers. Yonhap News Agency reported that two firefighters in their 30s or 40s were classified as seriously hurt, including one who suffered cardiac arrest and was rushed to a hospital. The other five casualties were described as less severe, though authorities cautioned that conditions could change as cooling operations continued.
Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said Lee directed the National Fire Agency and National Police Agency to prioritize extinguishing the fire and protecting firefighters, citing the volume of combustible material inside the structure. Lee also asked agencies to prevent secondary damage to surrounding industrial blocks in western Bucheon, a dense manufacturing belt bordering Seoul.
Community warnings
Bucheon city officials sent safety text alerts urging people to avoid unnecessary outdoor activity because of thick smoke drifting across Ojeong-gu. News1 reported the fire was fully extinguished roughly two hours and 20 minutes after the first alarm, though crews were still clearing hot spots near midday.
Investigators have not announced a cause. A plant representative told firefighters the fire likely started during production steps involving coated metal parts, but police and labor inspectors are expected to review whether ventilation, chemical storage, and emergency exits met code for handling ignitable liquids. The episode lands as Lee’s government is under pressure to show it can manage industrial accidents after a volatile week in financial markets; on the ground in Bucheon, the immediate test is whether the critically injured firefighter stabilizes and whether air-quality readings return to normal for schools and apartments downwind of the site.