Wooshin Golden Suites fire explained

The Wooshin Golden Suites Fire was a fire that occurred at an officetel in Marine City, Haeundae, Busan, South Korea on October 1, 2010. The fire started on the fourth floor, caused by a spark from an electrical outlet, and rapidly spread to the top of the building via external combustible cladding; five injuries were reported.^[1]

Fire

• The fire started around 11:34am on the 4th floor.^[2]
• A fire engine with a 52-metre ladder was launched, but firefighters could not control the fire because it spread so quickly.
• Within 20 minutes, the blaze had reached the 38th floor.
• According to The Korea Times, the blaze was extinguished after 2.5 hours, after mobilising dozens of fire engines and a helicopter that dropped water on the building from above.^[3] According to Nathan White and Michael Delichatsios, writing in Fire Hazards of Exterior Wall Assemblies Containing Combustible Components, the original 4th-floor fire was put out by 1 pm, with the entire building fire-free by 6.48 pm.
• Some residents were evacuated by helicopter from the building's roof.

Causes and background

• There was no sprinkler in the 4th-floor room where the fire started.^[4]
• The reinforced glass in the windows hindered firefighters.
• The building featured flammable aluminium composite cladding with a polyethylene core, along with glass wool or polystyrene insulation; the fire rapidly spread up the facade, reaching the top of the tower within 20 minutes.^[5]

• The fire primarily spread up a vertical U-shaped indentation in the building's exterior, which created a chimney effect, possibly enhanced by wind blowing in from the sea.

Casualties

• 4 residents and 1 fire fighter were injured.

See also

• 2017 Jecheon fire
• Miryang hospital fire
  • • 2020 Icheon fire
  • Marco Polo condo fire

References

1. News: http://www.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?idxno=2010100214184397708 . ko:부산 해운대구 대형화재가 남긴 숙제는?] 아시아경제 . 2010-10-02.
2. News: 마린시티 내 황금빛 고급 주거 시설. 2 October 2010.
3. News: Fire guts high-rise building in Busan. The Korea Times. 1 October 2010.
4. Book: Nathan White. Michael Delichatsios. Fire Hazards of Exterior Wall Assemblies Containing Combustible Components. 20 July 2015. Springer. 978-1-4939-2898-9. 37–39.
5. News: High-rise apartments defenseless against fire. https://web.archive.org/web/20101008074219/http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/10/113_73908.html. dead. October 8, 2010. The Korea Times. 3 October 2010. 26 June 2017.