Overheating Crypto Mining Rigs Blamed for Another South Korea Fire

Overheating crypto mining rigs have caused another major fire in South Korea, emergency services in North Jeolla Province have claimed.

Per the news agency Yonhap , the incident took place in the city of Muju. Fire service Officers say the fire caused $17,345 worth of damage.

Overheating Crypto Mining Rigs Caused Fire – Police

Police officers also reported on the incident, explaining that that fire broke out at “around 4:28 am on January 30.”

They said the incident took place at a house in Muju County. And fire service professionals said they extinguished the blaze “in 20 minutes.”

Muju County (red) in North Jeolla Province (dark grey) on a map of South Korea. (Source: Dmthoth [CC BY-SA 3.0])

They added that the fire burned a 32㎡ section of the house and destroyed “seven cryptocurrency mining machines.”

Both police and fire service officials said they suspect the fire was caused by an “overloading of mining machinery.”

But they said they are still investigating “the exact causes of the fire.”

The Jeonbuk (North Jeolla) Fire Service released a photograph, taken at the scene, of what appears to be a fire-damaged metal storage unit.

Source: Jeonbuk Fire Service

On its shelves, several badly burned crypto mining rigs are clearly visible.

Fire Risk for Miners?

The incident comes around six months after a similar incident saw 110 rigs burn up in a blaze in the South Jeolla Province city of Jeonju .

The fire reportedly broke out in a building in the Samcheon District of Jeonju’s Wansan Neighborhood.

Firefighters reported at the time that only some 30 of the machines were operational at the time of the blaze.

Rescue teams were able to extinguish the fire in just 50 minutes. However, the fire reportedly devastated an area of 33㎡ and consumed all 110 mining rigs.

The Jeonju fire department said the fire “caused property damage” worth “over 9 million won [$6,236].”

Crypto Mining Challenges in South Korea

Crypto investment enjoys sky-high popularity in South Korea, where hundreds of thousands of citizens trade coins on a regular basis.

However, the nation lacks any major large-scale industrial crypto mining players. Much of the reason for this is the nation’s high electricity and gas costs.

Household gas prices have risen by almost 25% in recent years. And while the Korea Electric Power Corporation announced it was freezing household rates in October 2024, it also announced a 9.7% rise for industrial users, the Korea Times reported.