Battery storage fire at Dongkuk Steel Pohang ESS centre burns over a day

What happened

In June 2025 a fire of undetermined origin broke out in the electrical room of an energy storage system at the Dongkuk Steel Pohang ESS centre in Nam-gu, Daesong-myeon, Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. The building was a two storey steel framed structure housing thousands of battery modules. Fire services declared a Level 1 response and deployed around 30 vehicles and 62 personnel. No flames or smoke were seen escaping the building and no injuries were reported.

Because firefighters found it difficult to enter the enclosed battery room safely, water was applied through windows and other openings using connected hose systems rather than by direct entry. Fire officials initially expected full extinguishment could take from one day up to several days given the characteristics of battery fires. A supplementary incident database record indicates the fire was extinguished after around 29 hours. The cause had not been confirmed at the time of reporting.

Contributing factors

Not reported at the time of the source article. The cause was stated to be under investigation.

Lessons learned

1. Battery fires in enclosed rooms can last many hours, so response plans must allow for multi-day incidents with external water supply.
2. Direct entry to battery rooms may not be safe, so design must include external hose points and openings for water application.
3. No visible external smoke or flame does not mean the fire is out, so exclusion zones must cover a prolonged incident.

More lessons on fire suppression and firefighting, design, standards and commissioning, emergency response and public communication, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

• Battery module model and age
• Cost of damage and downtime
• Confirmed cause of the fire

This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.

Source

yna.co.kr