Daejeon Excels in Fire Prevention 'Significant Drop in Casualties and Property Damage'... Highest Reduction Rate Nationwide

Comparison Data of Fire Occurrence and Damage Status in Daejeon Area for 2018 and 2019. Provided by Daejeon City

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Last year, the occurrence and damage status of fires in the Daejeon area showed the largest decrease rate nationwide compared to 2018.

According to the fire analysis data from the Daejeon Fire Headquarters on the 8th, a total of 878 fires occurred in Daejeon last year, resulting in 71 casualties and property damage worth 4 billion KRW.

This represents a decrease of 216 fire incidents (19.7%), 14 casualties (16.5%), and 2 billion KRW (33.2%) in property damage compared to the previous year.

The largest damage fire incident in Daejeon last year was the explosion fire at the Defense Science Research Institute, which caused 7 casualties and property damage worth 680 million KRW. Additionally, the incident with the highest number of deaths was the Hanwha Daejeon Plant explosion, which resulted in 3 deaths at the time of the accident.

Comparison data of the average fire occurrence rate change in metropolitan cities nationwide from 2018 to 2019. Provided by Daejeon City

Nevertheless, compared to the nationwide average (metropolitan cities and provinces) in 2018 and 2019, Daejeon showed significantly lower figures in the number of fires and the scale of casualties and property damage. Last year, the national average number of fire incidents decreased by 5.3% and casualties by 3.4% compared to the previous year, while property damage increased by 44.3%.

The Fire Headquarters interprets that favorable weather conditions last year and the occurrence of large fires such as the Gangwon wildfires and Seoul Jeil Peace Market fire raised citizens' fire safety awareness, which contributed to the decrease in fire incidents last year.

However, the Fire Headquarters urged continuous caution in fire prevention, noting that fires caused by carelessness accounted for 48.9% (429 cases) of all fires last year when analyzing fire types by cause.

When subdividing careless fires by type, cigarette butts accounted for the largest share at 38.2% (164 cases), followed by cooking-related fires at 22.4% (96 cases), unattended flames at 11.4% (49 cases), combustible material neglect at 6.5% (28 cases), and garbage burning at 6.1% (26 cases).

Kim Tae-han, head of the Daejeon Fire Headquarters, said, “The noticeable decrease in fire incidents in the region last year is thanks to the efforts of each citizen and fire agencies alike. However, since careless fires still account for a high proportion of the overall fire causes, it is important to continuously pay attention and interest to fire prevention.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.