On November 15th local time, a sudden fire broke out at the logistics center of E-LAND Group inonan, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. The warehouse contained over 11 million pieces of clothing, shoes, and other goods. Due to the large amount flammable materials fueling the fire, it took 60 hours to completely extinguish it. The fire caused the structure on the north side of the building to collapse under temperatures, while the south side, although still maintaining its appearance, showed obvious deformation of the steel frame, posing a risk of further collapse. Fortunately, the three duty employees were to escape in time, and there were no casualties.

According to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency and News1, the fire first appeared at 608 a.m. on the fourth floor of the logistics center. The fire department immediately launched the first stage of response after receiving the report, and about 50 minutes, it was upgraded to the second stage of alert, mobilizing a total of 430 firefighters, 150 fire engines, and 11 firefighting helicopters to scene for rescue. Due to the large amount of clothing and shoes stored in the warehouse, the fire quickly spread, making the extinguishing process very difficult.

The center is a rectangular building with one underground and four above-ground floors, covering an area of about 190,000 square meters. It can accommodate 10 trucks for simultaneous operations and processes about 4 to 5 million boxes of goods per year, making it one of the local large-scale logistics bases. The fire caused the warehouse area on the north side, where clothing and shoes were mainly stored, to collapse directly. Although the logistics operation area on the south side was relatively solid, the exterior walls in places fell off, and the steel frame structure was bent due to heat, posing a risk of further loss of support.

Firefighters said that although the fire has been controlled, there are still scattered residual fires and high-temperature points inside the building. The rescue team continues to use water curtains to cool down and dismantle dangerous components with heavy equipment prevent secondary hazards caused by the collapsed area. Structural engineering experts pointed out that the building adopts a steel frame plus reinforced concrete design, and the steel frame, which is not with concrete, is prone to deformation under heat, which is one of the main reasons for the collapse.

Several brands under the E-LAND Group, including New Balance, WHO.A.U., and SPAO, have issued statements one after another, indicating that this incident may affect some of the shipment progress, but it is still be confirmed after a complete inventory.

Although this fire did not cause casualties, the loss is likely to be quite large, and almost all the goods in the warehouse were destroyed The follow-up investigation results will determine whether the logistics center can be rebuilt or needs to be demolished on a large scale, and the relevant authorities are still monitoring the structural.