Neighbors help each other during fire at 33-story apartment building

A large fire that began around 11 p.m. on Thursday at a 33-story commercial and residential building in Ulsan was extinguished after 15 hours and 30 minutes. It has been reported that there was no serious casualty as of Friday among over 500 residents in the building thanks to the calm responses by the residents and firefighters.

“Fire at Samhwan Art Nouveau was mostly put out at 12:35 p.m. and completely extinguished at 2:50 p.m.,” said Ulsan Fire Station on Friday. The fire that climbed up the outer wall was mostly under control as of Friday morning, but it took more time until complete extinguishing due to strong wind and fire residue.

It was quite a dangerous situation with the fire spreading through the entire building, but the residents' calm reactions prevented a huge catastrophe. A call to the fire station was made immediately after a fire was suspected and the residents evacuated to a safe place one the fire spread.

“Some knocked on the door of neighbors and even helped the evacuation of kids and seniors,” said one of the residents. The fire station said those living in the lower floors left the building through the gate on the first floor and others living in the higher floors escaped to the closest evacuation zones. “The residents also covered their mouths and noses with wet towels when moving, which was an appropriate response,” said a firefighter.

The fire stations were also quick to respond by arriving at the first just five minutes after the initial call. Firefighters helped the evacuation of the residents before the fire raged through the building. A total of 1,005 people, including 930 firefighters and 75 police officers and local government officials, were deployed to the site.


yesbro@donga.com · byhuman@donga.com