Regulation lacking on flame-retardant performance of insulation materials for facilities

[Anchor]

In August, during the electric vehicle fire in an Incheon underground parking lot, the fire was ignited by the insulation material surrounding the ceiling pipes.

There are calls for improvement as there are no regulations regarding the flame-retardant performance of such 'insulation materials for facilities' used in underground parking lot piping.

Lee Se-heum reports.

[Report]

The underground parking lot is filled with smoke.

Suddenly, sparks fly from a location away from the burning electric vehicle.

The insulation material wrapped around the ceiling pipes caught fire, causing the flames to spread.

[Baek Seung-joo/Professor of Fire Safety and Disaster Management at Open Cyber University: "The flames generated from the electric vehicle do not come directly; they transfer (to the insulation material) and start to melt. Since it does not have flame-retardant properties, it is very vulnerable to fire spread."]

This is the insulation material that was covering the facility piping during the electric vehicle fire in Cheongna, Incheon.

I will personally set fire to the same insulation material.

Within seconds, a hole is burned through the 2.5 cm thick insulation, and it melts while still on fire.

After the Icheon logistics warehouse fire in 2020, the building code was revised to require that insulation materials installed inside and outside buildings be made of non-combustible materials.

However, there are still no regulations regarding the flame-retardant performance of 'insulation materials for facilities' used in underground parking lot piping.

Disaster prevention experts point out that because such insulation materials for facilities can become fire starters in fire incidents in underground parking lots, flame-retardant performance standards need to be established.

[Lee Chang-woo/Professor of Fire Safety and Disaster Management at Soongsil Cyber University: "There is a need for standards for insulation materials for facility piping to be regulated according to the flame-retardant standards mentioned in the building code. Only then can the speed of fire spread be slowed down when a fire occurs."]

Construction sites are hesitant to use flame-retardant insulation materials due to its relatively high costs and other reasons.

This is Lee Se-heum from KBS News.