Fish Market Blaze

[Anchor Lead]

A fire broke out at a popular fish market in the southwestern city of Yeosu, affecting more than a hundred stores. The vendors, who were expecting brisk sales ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, are utterly devastated.

[Pkg]

Sparks suddenly appear at a store inside the Yeosu fish market. The growing blaze spreads to nearby stalls, and black smoke reaches the market ceiling in just four minutes. Some 200 firefighters were dispatched to tame the flames, but it took 2 hours to do so. The fire has damaged over a hundred stores, including 58 that were completely destroyed. Fire officials estimate damages of over 442-thousand dollars. The vendors, who were looking forward to brisk sales ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, are devastated.

[Soundbite] Kim Mi-ja(Affected Vendor) : "There is no way we can do business for the holiday. How can we? Everything is burnt. I'm at a loss."

Sprinklers and fire alarms fortunately were operational, somewhat curbing the extent of the damage. But traditional markets still remain extremely vulnerable to fires. Flammable thermal insulation materials are used in the ceilings, and the layout of the market with the stores all clustered together without partitions allowed the fire to spread in a short period of time. Police and fire authorities believe the fire was caused by a short circuit, and will look into the exact cause through a joint investigation scheduled for Tuesday morning.