Yoon calls for scientific safety measures against hard-to-extinguish fires
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, July 2 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol called Tuesday for scientific safety measures to address rising concerns over hard-to-extinguish fires after a lithium battery plant went up in flames last week and killed nearly two dozen workers.
Yoon made the remarks during a Cabinet meeting after the fire at the Aricell lithium battery plant in Hwaseong, 45 kilometers south of Seoul, killed 23 people, mostly foreign employees. Concerns have since arisen that conventional extinguishing methods would not work in such fires.
"In industries like the battery sector, which uses various chemical substances, it is difficult to extinguish fires using traditional methods," Yoon said. "We should thoroughly investigate the types and causes of fires to establish more scientific safety measures."
Given the widespread use of batteries in smartphones and electric vehicles, Yoon ordered related ministries to work together to investigate causes of battery fires, establish safety measures and develop advanced technology to detect and prevent fires at an early stage.
"As new industries rapidly grow, risk factors have become complex and changed. But the firefighting technology and safety awareness have not kept pace with the trend," he said.
Extinguishing a lithium-ion battery fire for an electric vehicle takes longer and requires much more water than a regular vehicle, on top of the exposure to toxic chemicals.
On Monday, a subway maintenance train caught fire on its lithium battery, which was extinguished by submerging it in a water tank. No casualties were reported.
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