Fire in 3 warehouses in Kaohsiung burns for 12 hours

高雄3倉儲大火連燒12小時

Fire breaks out in 3 warehouses in Kaohsiung, burns for nearly 12 hours


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- A fire broke out last night in three warehouses in Kaohsiung City and the blaze lasted for nearly 12 hours before it was put out at 7 a.m. this morning, reported CNA.

At 8 p.m. last night, a fire broke out in a cluster of three corrugated steel warehouses on Jiaxing Road in Kaohsiung City's Gangshan District. The Kaohsiung Fire Bureau dispatched 63 firetrucks and 170 firefighters to battle the blaze, which eventually scorched 6,000 square meters before finally being contained.

The Tainan Fire Department also dispatched four trucks and eight firefighters to help fight the flames.

A preliminary investigation by the Kaohsiung Fire Department revealed that the fire spread to a factory and had at one point endangered neighboring houses and temples, which were evacuated with the help of firefighters. The warehouses were found to have mainly contained recycled paper, plastics and diesel oil.

While firefighters fought the fire from the exterior, they used an excavator to create barriers to prevent it from spreading. They also launched drones to monitor the fire from above.

The fire was contained by 4 a.m. this morning and was finally fully extinguished by 7 a.m. The flames and high temperatures destroyed the warehouses, and firefighters were still working on putting out residual embers this morning.

No casualties had been reported at the time of publication.

In addition to the alarming flames, the smoke produced by the inferno prompted the Kaohsiung City Government Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to send personnel to monitor nearby air pollution. The EPA said that PM 2.5 in the air in Kaohsiugn spiked to a reading of 85 between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. this morning, before later dropping down to 40.

The city government will determine whether to fine the owners of the warehouses for violating Article 32 of the Air Pollution Control Act (空污法), if an investigation finds the fire was caused by improper management.

Videos posted to Breaking News Commune (爆料公社) of the fire: