Home > National > Social Affairs

'We put them out ourselves': Daejeon factory workers say deadly blaze not the first fire

Published: 23 Mar. 2026, 18:26

People pay their respects at a joint memorial altar for the victims of the fire at Anjun Industrial in Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall in Daejeon on March 22. [YONHAP]

DAEJEON — Even before the deadly fire at a Daejeon factory took 14 lives on Friday, the facility had already suffered multiple fires beforehand, and employees who had called authorities were even reprimanded by managers, according to the bereaved families and employees.

Many of the previous emergencies at Anjun Industrial — a plant that uses industrial oil and machining processes — were handled internally without notifying authorities, they said.

“I heard that in the past, when a fire broke out at the factory, one employee called emergency services and was scolded by a supervisor,” a family member of an injured worker said in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo on Monday. “There had been several small fires before. It seemed to happen once or twice a year.”

An employee described a similar pattern.

“Fires broke out often. There were times when the fire spread and the fire department responded,” the employee told the JoongAng Ilbo. “For smaller fires, we put them out ourselves.”

Authorities conduct a joint inspection in connection with the fire at Anjun Industrial in Daejeon on March 21. [NEWS1]

Some workers indicated that the company avoided reporting fires to "prevent increased oversight from authorities."

The factory handles large amounts of oil, with officials saying oil and grease inside the facility fueled the blaze.

“Sparks fly during work, and sometimes they go up into the dust collector and fall back down,” a current employee said. “When workers run over with fire extinguishers, most fires get put out."

Authorities conduct a joint inspection in connection with the fire at Anjun Industrial in Daejeon on March 23. [NEWS1]

The factory's labor union has repeatedly raised concerns about safety risks.

“We told the company in safety meetings to fix facilities and dust collection systems because they posed fire risks,” said Hwang Byung-geun, head of the Anjun Industrial labor union, on Sunday. “We also stressed the need to regularly check and clean the dust collection systems because oil vapors and residue build up.”

Posts on Blind, an anonymous online forum for employees, raised similar concerns in recent years.

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at Anjun Industrial in Daejeon on March 20. [NEWS1]

A former employee wrote on Oct. 6, 2022, that while pay was relatively high for Daejeon, oil mist in the workplace posed a problem. Another user wrote on Oct. 29, 2024, that oil on the floor made it "slippery, causing pain while walking."

Workers have also pointed to frequent malfunctions in the fire alarm system.

A siren sounded once around 1:17 p.m. on Friday, but some employees in a break room did not evacuate because they thought it was a false alarm.

“Fire detectors must be installed, but there is no rule requiring them to be replaced if they malfunction,” a fire official said. “We can only recommend replacing them after checking them.”

Sohn Ju-hwan, CEO of Anjun Industrial, leaves the company office on March 23 as authorities carry out a search and seizure in connection with the fire at the factory in Daejeon. [NEWS1]

Sohn Ju-hwan, CEO of Anjun Industrial, visited a memorial altar at Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall on Monday morning and bowed to the victims and their families.

“I am truly sorry," Sohn said about whether he acknowledged the accident as preventable. "I feel deeply sorry to our employees.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM JEONG-JAE, SHIN JIN-HO, CHOI JONG-KWON AND LEE GYU-RIM [[email protected]]