Major Fire Erupts in Seoul's Guryong Village, 300 Firefighters Battle Blaze
Nearly 300 South Korean firefighters rushed to combat a major fire on Friday in Guryong Village, a deprived area located within the upscale Gangnam district of southern Seoul. The blaze broke out early in the morning, prompting a massive emergency response.
Evacuations and No Casualties Reported
Officials confirmed that no casualties have been reported so far. However, 47 residents of Guryong Village were safely evacuated from the scene. According to Yonhap News, about 110 people were living in the affected area at the time of the fire.
Kim Ok-im, a 69-year-old resident, described the chaotic scene. "I was asleep until a neighbour called saying there was a fire. I ran out and saw the flames already spreading," she said. Kim has lived in the area for nearly 30 years and expressed deep concern about losing her home.
Fire Alert Raised and Challenges in Response
The fire started at approximately 5:10 a.m. local time. Authorities quickly raised the fire alert to the second-highest level. Firefighters were particularly worried that the blaze might spread to a nearby mountain, intensifying the danger.
A total of 85 fire trucks were dispatched to the scene. However, officials faced a significant challenge. They could not send a helicopter to assist due to heavy haze and fine dust shrouding the city, which limited aerial firefighting efforts.
Government Orders and Historical Context
South Korean Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung issued urgent orders. He directed officials to mobilize all available personnel and equipment to focus fully on rescuing lives and extinguishing the fire. This command highlighted the severity of the situation.
Guryong Village is known as a pocket of ramshackle housing in Gangnam, one of Seoul's wealthiest districts. The area is slated for redevelopment into high-rise residential buildings. Often described as Seoul's largest remaining shantytown, Guryong emerged when families displaced by public works projects in the 1970s and 1980s settled there without permits.
Vulnerability to Fires
The makeshift homes in Guryong Village are densely packed together. They are typically constructed with highly flammable materials such as:
- Vinyl sheets
- Plywood
- Styrofoam
This construction makes the area particularly vulnerable to fires, as noted in a fire department assessment after a previous blaze in 2023. Most residents have already moved out for the redevelopment, but about 336 households remain, according to the Gangnam District city planning department.
Photographs from the scene showed a towering column of black smoke hanging over the area. Elderly residents wearing face masks were seen evacuating, underscoring the urgency and scale of the disaster.
