Firefighters Can Restrain Interference During Firefighting... Strengthened Fire Damage Compensation for Multi-Use Facilities

Six Fire Agency Bills Under Jurisdiction Passed at Regular National Assembly Plenary Session ... Promulgation in January Next Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The National Fire Agency announced on the 21st that six bills under its jurisdiction, including the Act on 119 Rescue and Emergency Medical Services, were passed at the last plenary session of the 21st National Assembly and will be promulgated in January next year.

With this revision of the law, compensation for victims affected by fires in multi-use facilities will be strengthened. If human or property damage occurs due to fire, even if the business owner is not at fault, the victim can receive compensation, and multi-use facility owners are required to subscribe to fire liability insurance.

The amendment to the Framework Act on Fire Services, which includes provisions to ensure the safety of firefighters engaged in field activities, was also passed. If a person obstructs firefighting activities, after a first warning, if the obstruction poses a risk to life or body, firefighters are allowed to restrain such acts.

The Firefighters Act was also amended. The firefighter scholarship support recruitment system, which provided scholarships to university students and required a mandatory service period after graduation, will be abolished starting next year. Through this system, 132 people were recruited from 1982 to 2019, and currently, 110 are serving.

In addition, a special law for the establishment and operation of the National Fire Hospital and an amendment to the Fire Facilities Construction Business Act, which allows city and provincial governors to select supervisors through an evaluation of business performance for housing construction projects above a certain scale, were passed.

As a medium-term project, following the revision of the Act on 119 Rescue and Emergency Medical Services, the National Fire Agency will promote a project to establish a 119 Aviation Maintenance Office starting next year.

Unlike other national agencies such as the Korea Forest Service, the firefighting aviation unit has no dedicated maintenance office and has relied mostly on outsourced maintenance. This has led to extended maintenance periods and overlapping maintenance schedules for aircraft, reducing aircraft availability and causing dispatch gaps.

Accordingly, the National Fire Agency plans to establish a maintenance office capable of major inspections of aircraft by 2025 to shorten maintenance periods and increase aircraft availability. Additionally, it expects an annual budget saving of 12.4 billion KRW through reduced outsourced maintenance labor costs and joint parts procurement.

To assist firefighting activities in emergencies and perform tasks efficiently, the legal basis for establishing a 119 Rescue Dog Unit under the 119 Act has also been prepared. Previously, only search and rescue dogs were operated, but with this legal revision, the scope of special-purpose dogs has been expanded to include fire investigation dogs, water detection dogs, water rescue dogs, and cadaver detection dogs.

A National Fire Agency official said, "In the 21st National Assembly this year, ten bills under the agency’s jurisdiction, including the Fire Facilities Construction Business Act implementing separate ordering of fire facility construction and the 119 Act imposing fines for obstructing ambulance transport, were passed. Next year, we will actively propose bills reflecting the voices of as many citizens as possible through sufficient public hearings and other opinion procedures and engage in proactive legislative activities."

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