A large fire broke out at Kumho Tire's Gwangju plant on the morning of the 17th, and the fire department is currently working to extinguish it. This plant has the capacity to produce 16 million tires, which is 58% of Kumho Tire's annual production capacity of 27 million tires. The current average daily production is 33,000 tires. Kumho Tire has completely halted production until the site is stabilized.
According to the fire department, multiple reports were received around 7:11 a.m. on this day about a fire at Kumho Tire's Gwangju plant. The authorities issued a national fire deployment order at 10 a.m. to mobilize all firefighting personnel and equipment nationwide.
As a result of this fire, one male employee in his 20s was rescued with significant leg injuries. Two firefighters also sustained injuries. As of 8 p.m., it was reported that 50% to 60% of Plant 2 of Gwangju's plants 1 and 2 had burned.
The fire department reported that it will take several days to completely extinguish the fire. There are combustible materials like raw rubber inside the building where the fire broke out, meaning that the items must completely burn before extinguishing can be completed.
Due to this fire, the Gwangju plant has completely halted production. It is reported that companies in the Gwangju area that produce finished cars are obtaining tires from other tire companies, so production disruptions have not occurred. However, there is a possibility of production delays for the Casper electric vehicle exported to Japan, which uses Kumho Tire products, produced by Gwangju Global Motors (GGM) that assembles Hyundai Motor's Casper.