Another electric vehicle caught fire while charging, prompting evacuation of over 300 people

[Anchor]

Today (10.9), a fire broke out in an electric vehicle that was charging in an underground parking lot in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province.

About 300 residents were urgently evacuated, and the fire authorities are investigating the exact cause of the fire, including whether there was excessive charging.

Reporter Seo Yoon-deok has the details.

[Report]

Smoke is rising slowly from underneath a vehicle parked in the electric vehicle charging area.

After about 30 minutes, flames burst out, and soon the fire blazed up.

At around 2:40 AM today,

a fire broke out in an electric vehicle that was charging on the fourth level of the underground parking lot of an apartment building in Jeonju.

[Witness/voice altered: "There was a little smoke coming up from the underground area. It smelled musty. The children were coming out covered with blankets."]

The fire authorities, who were dispatched after receiving the report, extinguished the fire in about an hour using a mobile water tank.

Fortunately, the sprinkler system activated immediately after the fire broke out, preventing a thermal runaway of the battery, and the flames did not spread to nearby vehicles.

As a result of the fire, about 300 residents of the apartment were urgently evacuated.

One resident who inhaled smoke was taken to the hospital, but there were no major casualties.

However, there were about 450 vehicles parked on the fourth basement level where the fire occurred, and over 2,400 vehicles in the entire underground parking lot, leaving residents with a sense of shock.

[Choi Min-soo/Resident: "I quickly evacuated with my family. But many people were already outside. I felt very anxious as memories of electric vehicle fires I had seen on the news came to mind."]

The electric vehicle that caught fire was a Kia 'Niro', and the investigation revealed that it had been charging since 6 PM the previous evening, about 9 hours before the fire.

It was also confirmed that the charger was still plugged into the vehicle when the fire broke out.

The fire authorities and police are investigating the exact cause of the fire, including whether there was a battery defect or overcharging.

This is KBS News, Seo Yoon-deok.