The conversation between the first person to report the fire at a hotel in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province to 119 and the fire department response personnel has been made public.

According to the office of Democratic Party of Korea member Yoon Kun-young on the 24th, the first report regarding the fire at the Bucheon hotel was received at 7:39:20 PM on the 22nd.

The caller initially says, “This is the XXX Hotel in the Middle East. There’s probably a fire outside.” When the call handler asks where the fire is, the caller replies, “This room. Room 810.”

The reporting agent first arranged for a fire truck to be dispatched, then asked the reporter questions to determine the specific location of the fire, and then asked, “Have you evacuated?” The reporter replied, “I wasn’t prepared,” and the receptionist instructed, “Everyone, evacuate first.”

When the reporter did not respond, the receptionist called the reporter again, but the reporter simply said, “Ah…” and then hung up.
The fire department issued a level 1 fire alarm at 7:42 p.m., just three minutes after the first report was received. One minute later, at 7:43 p.m., the Bucheon Fire Department’s first responders arrived at the scene.

However, when the rescue team arrived, the flames had already spread throughout the hotel, visible from afar, and black smoke was filling the building. Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters Chief Cho Seon-ho said, “When we opened the door in room 810, where the fire first broke out, the smoke spread rapidly,” and “If you look at the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, smoke was already filling the hallway after about 48 minutes. The hallway was narrow and heat was accumulating, so guests had difficulty evacuating.”

The fire killed seven people and injured 12 others.

Han Kyung-woo, reporter for Hankyung.com case@hankyung.com