Fire at Yeongdeok Wind Generator Leaves Three Workers Dead
- Dogeon Lim
- Mar 24
- 1 min read
Mar 24, 2026
Dogeon Lim
On the afternoon of March 23, a tragic incident occurred when a fire erupted in the wing section of Wind Generator No. 19 in Yeongdeok, Gyeongbuk Province, resulting in the deaths of three workers. The fire also spread to a nearby hillside. The wind generator where the fire occurred was an aging facility that had been in operation for more than 20 years. On the second-to-last day of last month, a pillar of a wind power generator at the same complex collapsed and fell across a road.
According to the Gyeongbuk Fire Department and Yeongdeok-gun officials, a fire started at about 1:11 p.m. At the time, three workers were carrying out maintenance work inside the generator, inspecting and repairing cracks in the wing section. The three workers were later found dead inside the generator.
Fire authorities said one worker was discovered on the lower floor of the generator at around 2:34 p.m. The other two workers were found inside a wing section that had fallen to the ground due to the fire at around 4:33 p.m.
Fire, police, and forestry authorities deployed 15 helicopters, 50 pieces of equipment, and 148 personnel to prevent damage from falling debris, including wing fragments, and to stop the fire from spreading to nearby mountains.
The ministry plans to send staff from the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation to the site to assess the situation and investigate the cause of the accident. Yeongdeok Power, the power generation company, also planned to conduct its own investigation followed by a joint investigation to decide whether to resume operations.
