Scene of the fire investigation at Eunma Apartment in Daechi-dong, Gangnam this February [Yonhap News file photo]

It has been determined that the failure of a fire detector, the cause of which remains unknown, erased the "golden time" for survival during the fire at Eunma Apartment that claimed the life of a high school student who dreamt of becoming a doctor.

According to Yonhap News on the 20th, the Gangnam Fire Station stated in a 167-page investigation report recently compiled regarding the accident that "the failure of the detector to activate was a major factor that led to the loss of the opportunity for initial suppression."

According to the investigation, the unit where the fire broke out on the morning of February 26 was equipped with a fixed-temperature spot-type detector. This device is designed to trigger an alarm when the internal temperature of the unit reaches 70–75 degrees Celsius.

The detector was installed on the ceiling of the kitchen, which is presumed to be the origin of the fire. While high-temperature flames were generated and spread throughout the unit, the detector right in front of them failed to perform its intended role when needed.

The victim, a 17-year-old student identified by her surname Kim, lost her father, Mr. Kim (59), who had left for work at 4:57 a.m. on the day of the accident. There was a gap of about one hour and 20 minutes until 6:18 a.m., when the student first reported the fire.

The fire department believes that the fire started during that interval and grew out of control due to "flashover." Flashover refers to a phenomenon where flammable gases accumulate in a confined space and suddenly ignite and explode.

The investigation team analyzed that "at the time of the alarm at 6:18 a.m., the unit had reached the growth stage just before flashover. Oxygen was then supplied through the front door, causing the flames to spread rapidly."

Having woken up and discovered the fire, the student was ultimately unable to escape. The student’s mother, who had evacuated with the student’s younger sibling, re-entered the scene to save her daughter and sustained severe burns to her head, shoulders, and other areas.

Detector from the fire report [Provided by the bereaved family. Resale and DB prohibited]

Based on these evacuation circumstances, the investigation team concluded that if the detector had sounded before the flames reached the flashover stage, it is possible the student could have avoided the tragedy.

The on-site investigation found that the detector's circuit insulation was destroyed and the wires were disconnected. The device was designed in a way that it would not function if the wires were severed.

The investigation team, which focused on the correlation between the sudden ignition and the interior renovations carried out for about a month earlier this year, conducted a separate analysis of the detector failure that led to the casualties.

The team proposed three scenarios: the possibility that it was already non-functional before the renovations, the possibility that the renovations caused problems with the internal mechanisms or wiring, and the possibility that the detector wiring was burned first.

Although the renovation plan included heating, plumbing, and wallpapering, electrical work was omitted.

In response, the interior design company representative explained during the investigation, "I think I forgot to include it."

Consequently, the apartment complex's fire safety manager was unaware of the lighting wiring work, and no electrical inspection was conducted by the management office for this unit even after the renovations.

During the investigation, the manager stated that "an electrical license is required depending on the connection method between the light fixture and the wiring when replacing fixtures." However, it was found that the workers involved did not possess such licenses.

The police have booked three individuals—two interior contractors who oversaw the work and one electrician—on charges including professional negligence resulting in death and injury, violation of the Electrical Construction Business Act, and violation of the Fire Fighting Facilities Business Act. [Yonhap News]

Electrical wire connection from the fire report [Provided by the bereaved family. Resale and DB prohibited]