Soot coated the ceiling, and materials melted in the blaze lay black and matted together.
The acrid smell of burned wood and plastic stung the nostrils, while ash and shattered debris crunched underfoot.
Walls and pillars were cracked by the heat and barely held their shape. When reporters visited the house on the 20th, it showed no sign of habitation.
A fire broke out around 10:15 a.m. on the 18th in Arae-mal, Guwol-dong, Namdong District, Incheon, reducing two houses to blackened heaps of ash and displacing three residents.
Arae-mal, the last shantytown in Namdong District, was established in the 1960s by people relocated during the development of Bukseong-dong in central Jung-gu.
The 2,177㎡ (about 23,434 sq ft) site is home to 24 households and 39 residents, but 20 of those households—roughly 80%—are unauthorized structures.
Residents find it difficult to obtain fire insurance, and the area lacks sprinklers, making early firefighting response extremely challenging.
\"If the response had been any slower, this whole neighborhood would have been gone,\" said fire victim Lee Heung-yeon, 66. \"I've lived here 30 years, and my future looks bleak.\"
The soft ground erodes during rain, causing houses to lean.
\"Houses are tilting; my home's grade difference is about 7 centimeters (roughly 2.8 inches),\" said resident Won Yoo-chan, 65.
Tangled overhead wires also raise the risk of electrocution.
\"I've lived here since I was 12,\" said Hwang Hyung-sim, 69. \"We live in fear that a nighttime fire could become a major disaster. I hope this prompts action to create living conditions where people can live safely and with dignity.\"
Four public redevelopment attempts since 2010 were abandoned due to insufficient economic feasibility.
Park Jong-hyo, head of Namdong District, said, \"We will establish a practical redevelopment plan and cooperate with relevant agencies to provide support.\"
/Reporter Lee Chang-wook chuk@incheonilbo.com
