Last Year, Fire Incidents Decreased by 3.6% but Deaths Increased by 27.7%

Series of Major Accidents Due to Negligence and Explosions

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Although the number of fires nationwide decreased last year, the number of deaths caused by fires increased.

According to the Fire Agency on the 14th, a total of 38,659 fires occurred throughout 2020, resulting in 364 deaths, 1,915 injuries, and a total of 2,279 casualties. Property damage was estimated at 590.3 billion KRW.

On average per day, there were 106 fires, 6 casualties, and 1.6 billion KRW in property damage.

However, compared to the previous year, the number of fires decreased by 3.6% (1,444 cases). Fires in non-residential facilities decreased by 702 cases, showing the largest decline, followed by forest fires (592 cases↓) and residential facilities (394 cases↓).

By cause of fire, 49.6% (19,176 cases) were due to carelessness, 24.1% (9,310 cases) were electrical causes, and 10.5% (4,054 cases) were mechanical causes. By season, the fire occurrence rate in spring was 29.3% (11,340 cases), slightly higher than winter at 25.7% (9,949 cases).

Casualties decreased by 9.4% (236 people) compared to the previous year. Deaths increased by 79 (27.7%), but injuries decreased by 315 (14.1%).

Casualties due to carelessness and explosions increased, including the April 2020 Icheon logistics warehouse fire disaster (38 deaths), January Donghae City pension fire (6 deaths), July Yongin logistics center fire (5 deaths), and December Gunpo City apartment fire (4 deaths).

By location, casualties from fires in residential buildings accounted for 1,078 people, or 47.3% of the total, followed by non-residential buildings with 802 people, vehicles with 171 people, and forests with 61 people.

Property damage decreased by 31.2% (268.2 billion KRW) compared to the previous year. The Fire Agency explained that this was because there were relatively fewer large-scale property damage fires last year, such as the 2019 Gangwon forest fire (144 billion KRW damage), Jeil Peace Market fire (71.6 billion KRW), and Ulsan ship fire (56 billion KRW).

Nam Hwa-young, Director of Fire Policy at the Fire Agency, said, "We will analyze fire statistics more closely to find areas where casualties can be reduced and actively reflect them in fire prevention and response policies."

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