Mother and Son Die in Mapo Apartment Fire... "Difficult to Conclude Battery Pack as Cause"

[Financial News] At the site of a fire in an apartment in Changjeon-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, an electric scooter battery pack was found, and the fire authorities are examining its relation to the cause of the fire.
On the 18th, the police and fire department deployed 15 officials from Mapo Fire Station, Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters, Mapo Police Station, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and Korea Electrical Safety Corporation for a joint inspection of the Changjeon-dong fire, which lasted about 4 hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The joint inspection focused on identifying the ignition point and collecting physical evidence. Attention was particularly drawn to whether the battery pack found at the fire site acted as the ignition source.
A fire official stated, "A lithium secondary battery pack, presumed to be for an electric scooter, was found in one room of the affected unit," adding, "It cannot be concluded that the battery is the actual cause of the fire, and scientific analysis is needed."
The testimony of the father, who usually charged the electric scooter battery in the deceased son's room, was also confirmed. The discovered battery, made of metallic material, was not incinerated but was found to have been damaged by the flames due to the scale of the fire.
A fire official explained, "With a fire of this magnitude, it is inevitable for the battery to burn," adding, "The cause cannot be determined visually and must be analyzed by an assessment agency."
The absence of sprinklers and non-functioning evacuation broadcasts are cited as reasons for the increased damage. The apartment was completed in 1998, when sprinkler installation was only mandatory for buildings over 16 floors according to the law at the time. Although the mandate was expanded to buildings over 11 floors in 2005 and to all floors of buildings over 6 floors from 2018, it was not applied retroactively.
The fire authorities plan to request the National Forensic Service to analyze the cause of the fire using the collected battery pack and other evidence. An official stated, "The joint inspection is not a process to conclude the cause but a stage to secure evidence necessary for determining the cause," adding, "It will take time to reach a final result."
This fire started at around 8:11 a.m. the previous day in a unit on the 14th floor of an 18-story apartment building. Firefighters, dispatched after a resident reported seeing black smoke, initially controlled the fire at 9:57 a.m. and fully extinguished it by 10:42 a.m.
The fire spread from the ignition point within the unit, resulting in the deaths of a woman in her 60s and her son in his 20s who were residing there. Thirteen people, including the father, Mr. A (in his 60s), were injured from burns and smoke inhalation, and 89 residents were evacuated urgently.
The fire authorities estimated the property damage to be approximately 153.18 million won.


425_sama@fnnews.com Choi Seung-han Reporter