 Two decades before the story begins, a young girl saves her younger brother from drowning at the hands of their abusive father. The boy watches as his sister and father are consumed by flames triggering within him a psychotic fascination with fire. He brings his new interest in flames to light by burning down the children s ward at the hospital where he was housed. By the time the story begins, the boy has grown into a man and has perfected his arsonist s tendencies. The fire department finds their hands full battling, not only blazes (and Seoul s traffic problems) but a lunatic bent on eliminating those who would stop his fires.