Gwangju City Sees Decrease in Fire-Related Casualties and Property Damage Last Year

Fire Safety Headquarters Analyzes Firefighting Activity Statistics... An Average of 2.4 Incidents Occur Daily

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Seon-gang] The Gwangju Metropolitan City Fire Safety Headquarters announced on the 12th that an analysis of last year's fire activity statistics in the Gwangju area showed a decrease in casualties and property damage caused by fires, while rescue and daily safety activities increased.

Last year, there were a total of 882 fires, averaging 2.4 incidents per day, with 32 casualties, a 48% decrease from 61 in 2019. Property damage amounted to approximately 3.295 billion KRW, down 27% from about 4.542 billion KRW the previous year.

The reduction in fire damage is attributed to shortened arrival times of firefighters at fire scenes due to fire lane securing drills and installation of dispatch guidance lines in apartment complexes, as well as increased early fire response by citizens thanks to the expansion of emergency fire extinguishing devices and the distribution of residential fire safety equipment.

The most common fire locations were non-residential places such as restaurants and industrial facilities, accounting for 322 cases (36.8%). By cause, negligence accounted for 500 cases (56.7%), electrical factors 180 cases (20.4%), mechanical factors 93 cases (10.6%), and unknown causes 51 cases (5.8%).

Among these, most negligence-related fires were caused by cigarette butts with 154 cases (30.8%) and food cooking with 118 cases (23.6%).

The number of rescue cases handled increased by 3.5% from 2019 to a total of 5,573 cases, averaging 15.3 rescue activities per day.

Water rescue cases rose dramatically to 384 last year, a 1,377% increase from 26 cases in 2019, contributing to the overall rise in rescue cases. This was due to heavy rains from August 7 to 9 and flooding of facilities, as well as search and rescue operations caused by typhoons (Jangmi, Bavi, Maysak, Haishen) that moved northward in August and September.

Traffic accident rescues increased by 426 cases. The increase was mainly due to car-to-car accidents (53%) and motorcycle accidents (12.46%), with the rise in motorcycle accidents attributed to the surge in food delivery services driven by non-face-to-face consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Daily safety activities totaled 11,915 cases, averaging 32.6 citizen-centered safety activities per day, marking a 12.2% increase from 2019.

Most daily safety activities (48.7%) were concentrated between July and September. This is because 78% of the total 2,597 beehive removal cases occurred during this period, and emergency water supply and drainage support activities related to natural disasters such as typhoons and heatwaves increased by 228 cases (2,850%) compared to 2019.

Conversely, dispatches related to fire system malfunctions decreased by 187 cases (7.6%) due to the effectiveness of the "Fire System Management Status Survey and Promotion" measures aimed at reducing false alarms.

Emergency medical dispatches totaled 64,666 cases, averaging 177 per day, with 43,546 patients transported. By patient type, 28,412 (65.2%) were due to illness (pain, decreased consciousness, etc.), 8,394 (19.3%) due to accident injuries (falls, slips, etc.), and 4,529 (10.4%) due to traffic accidents.

The most common location was the home with 27,428 patients (63%), and by age group, those in their 50s and 60s numbered 7,682 (17.6%), the highest.

Notably, in 2020, 1,083 confirmed COVID-19 patients, 2,023 suspected COVID-19 patients with symptoms such as high fever and cough, and 2,705 individuals with symptoms at schools or overseas arrivals were transported to hospitals and isolation facilities, totaling 5,811 people.

Lee Jeong-ja, head of the city’s Rescue and Emergency Medical Services Division, stated, “Gwangju Fire Services will strengthen capabilities to proactively respond not only to fire, rescue, emergency medical, and daily safety activities but also to infectious diseases and natural disasters caused by climate change through this statistical analysis.” She added, “We will improve fire services for citizens through clear statistical management and policy utilization based on analysis.”

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