Fire at Kumho Tire plant in Gwangju 85% contained

Fire crews battle second day of blaze at rubber facility; hundreds temporarily displaced

A large fire at Kumho Tire’s plant in the southern city of Gwangju was 85% contained as of the morning of May 18 and is expected to be fully extinguished later in the day, local fire authorities said.

As of 8:30 a.m. local time, fire crews had brought most of the blaze under control, and the risk of it spreading to other parts of the plant was low, a Gwangju Fire Department official told reporters.

The fire broke out around 7:11 a.m. on May 17 in the plant’s rubber refining facility on the west side of the complex. The building, roughly the size of a soccer field (about 7,000 square meters), stored approximately 20 tons of raw rubber.

Flames spread quickly through a dense network of panels and machinery, eventually consuming an area equivalent to five soccer fields, officials said.

More than 100 firefighting units, including eight helicopters and two large-scale foam-spraying systems capable of discharging 45,000 and 30,000 liters per minute, were deployed. Crews struggled to bring the fire under control due to the highly flammable rubber materials.

Thick plumes of black smoke were visible for hundreds of meters, raising concerns among nearby residents.

“We had hoped to extinguish the fire completely by this morning, but due to the nature of the rubber materials, it proved difficult,” a fire department official said. “We are now covering the affected area with tarpaulins and using excavators to suppress remaining flames.”

Local authorities in Gwangju and the city’s Gwangsan District are monitoring air pollution and water runoff from the firefighting response. Air quality remains within safety limits, and no evacuation orders have been issued.

However, 146 residents from 62 households in four nearby apartment complexes voluntarily relocated to a temporary shelter at Kwangju Women’s University gymnasium.