A fire destroyed seven buildings at a sponge manufacturing factory in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Friday [1].

The incident highlights the extreme volatility of industrial materials like sponge and textiles, which can lead to rapid structural collapse and the need for massive emergency mobilizations.

Authorities said the fire broke out around 12:40 p.m. [2]. Emergency crews battled the blaze for three hours before it was fully extinguished [2]. To prevent the fire from spreading to nearby structures, fire authorities issued a Level-1 response, which mobilized all available personnel and equipment from the jurisdictional fire station [3].

The response effort included 40 fire engines and 100 personnel [4]. Fire authorities said, "A fire occurred in a building that appeared to be a factory" [5].

The blaze caused extensive damage, destroying seven structures in total [2]. This included three blocks of the sponge factory, and one block of a textile factory [2]. Despite the scale of the destruction, no injuries were reported [2].

Witnesses described the intensity of the blaze. One caller to YTN said, "I smelled something like plastic burning" [6]. The use of a Level-1 response indicates the high risk officials perceived regarding the potential for the fire to jump to adjacent industrial sites [3].

“A fire destroyed seven buildings at a sponge manufacturing factory in Pocheon”

The rapid destruction of seven buildings within three hours underscores the high fire load associated with synthetic manufacturing. The mobilization of a Level-1 response—deploying all regional resources—demonstrates how industrial clusters in Gyeonggi Province remain vulnerable to cascading fires when flammable materials like sponges and textiles are stored in close proximity.