[2020 National Audit] "Prevent Recurrence of Ulsan Mixed-Use Complex Fire" ... Strengthening Fire Safety of Building Materials

Orders to Reinforce Equipment and Personnel Including Aerial Ladder Trucks at the Fire Agency

Fire Commissioner Jeong Mun-ho is attending the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee on the 13th for a government audit of the Fire Agency and is reporting on duties. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] At the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee’s audit of the Fire Agency, lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties called for strengthening firefighting equipment and personnel, as well as enhancing the fire safety of building materials, to prevent large-scale fires in high-rise buildings like the one that occurred on the night of the 8th at a mixed-use apartment complex in Ulsan.

On the 13th at the audit session, Park Wan-joo of the Democratic Party of Korea pointed out, "During the Ulsan fire, there was no 70m aerial ladder truck in Ulsan, so the 70m aerial ladder truck that came from Busan was deployed only the next day," adding, "Among high-rise buildings over 30 floors, many are apartments, but nationwide there are only 10 aerial ladder trucks over 70m."

Democratic Party lawmaker Yang Ki-dae also said, "Firefighters who worked overnight to extinguish the fire slept briefly for about 8 hours beside the building to prepare for additional situations. Although there are recovery vehicles for firefighters at the scene, none were dispatched this time," emphasizing, "The number of recovery vehicles should be increased dramatically, and operational regulations should be established so that they are managed systematically."

Fire Agency Commissioner Jeong Moon-ho responded, "(The 70m) aerial ladder truck is planned to be additionally purchased in Chungnam, and since the other nine metropolitan cities and provinces do not have one, we will actively consult with related ministries to supplement these regional headquarters as well."

Commissioner Jeong also explained, "There are five recovery vehicles for firefighters at the scene: three at the Central 119 Rescue Headquarters, and one each in Seoul and Sejong, with one more to be introduced this year. During the Ulsan fire, we did not anticipate the prolonged firefighting operation, so the vehicle was not dispatched, but we will be more thorough in the future."

Democratic Party lawmaker Oh Young-hwan, a former firefighter, pointed out the need to strengthen regulations related to combustible exterior materials and other building materials, which were causes of the rapid spread of the Ulsan mixed-use apartment fire.

Oh said, "Problems that appeared in the 2010 Busan Wooshin Golden Suite fire and the 2015 Uijeongbu Daebong Green Apartment fire have repeated this time. This is because practical measures against combustible exterior finishing materials, the fundamental cause of fire spread, were abandoned," urging, "Please take a more proactive stance to strengthen building material performance standards through amendments to the Building Act and related laws."

From the same party, lawmaker Lee Hae-sik pointed out, "The Ulsan mixed-use apartment fire started on the 3rd floor and spread through the open space on the 15th floor of the building. This area serves as a disaster safety zone, but the fire grew larger due to combustible finishing materials and moved to the back of the building," adding, "A full survey should be conducted on the use of combustible materials in buildings over 30 floors."

People Power Party lawmaker Seo Beom-su criticized that the special fire inspection of the building was conducted only formally.

Seo said, "The comprehensive precision inspections conducted twice a year by professional inspection companies were fairly substantial, but the special fire inspections conducted once a year directly by fire officials are very formalistic. The pointed issues are limited to 'checking the closed state of fire doors,' 'ordering replacement of old fire extinguishers,' and 'moving flowerpots,'” criticizing the inspections.

He added, "This year’s special fire inspection was not conducted due to COVID-19. If manpower is insufficient and the building is large, proper plans should be made accordingly, and it should not be a time-filling or superficial inspection," he said.

Commissioner Jeong emphasized, "We will strongly demand related ministries such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to strengthen fire safety standards for building materials based on this fire incident," adding, "We will conduct a full survey on the status of combustible materials and the safety of evacuation spaces in buildings over 30 floors, and recheck to ensure that special fire inspections are properly conducted."

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