Gwangju City Records 0.21 Fatalities per 10,000 People Last Year... Lowest Nationwide

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] The Gwangju Metropolitan Fire Safety Headquarters announced on the 15th that last year, the safety indicator for fire incidents, "casualties per 10,000 population," was 0.21, the lowest in the nation, making Gwangju the "safest city from fires."

According to the National Fire Information System of the Fire Agency, there were 882 fire incidents in the Gwangju area last year, an increase of 38 cases (4.5%) compared to the previous year, but casualties decreased by 47.5% (29 people), from 61 in 2019 to 32 last year.

Property damage also decreased by 27.5% (1.24 billion KRW), from 4.53 billion KRW in 2019 to 3.29 billion KRW last year.

The reduction in casualties and property damage is analyzed as a result of Gwangju City's efforts to reduce fire damage through practical, field-centered training such as fire suppression, rescue drills, and securing fire lanes, as well as actively promoting the expansion of emergency fire extinguishing devices and the distribution of residential fire safety facilities to prevent residential fires and reduce casualties.

Looking at the detailed fire occurrence status, the most fire incidents occurred in residential facilities with 322 cases (36.5%), followed by other outdoor areas with 154 cases (17.5%), lifestyle services with 139 cases (15.8%), automobiles with 89 cases (10.1%), and industrial facilities with 76 cases (8.6%).

The causes of fire incidents were mostly due to carelessness with 500 cases (56.7%), followed by electrical causes with 180 cases (20.4%), mechanical causes with 93 cases (10.5%), and unknown causes with 51 cases (5.8%).

Fires caused by carelessness were mainly from cigarette butts with 154 cases (30.8%), cooking food with 118 cases (23.6%), and garbage incineration with 74 cases (14.8%).

By device causing fire, kitchen appliances accounted for 165 cases (33.1%), vehicle parts 63 cases (12.6%), and seasonal appliances 44 cases (8.8%).

Among kitchen appliances, 123 cases (74.5%) occurred from gas stoves. For example, in February, a gas stove fire in Yuchon-dong, Seo-gu caused one injury and property damage worth 3 million KRW, showing that many fires occur during food cooking.

Of the 32 casualties, 20 (62.5%) occurred in residential facilities, 6 (18.8%) in others, 5 (15.6%) in non-residential facilities, and 1 (3.1%) in vehicles. Both the number of fires and casualties in residential facilities are increasing.

In fact, a fire in a house in Gyelim-dong, Dong-gu last October resulted in 1 death, 3 injuries, and property damage of 43 million KRW. Among the total 4 deaths, 3 occurred in residential facilities.

Kim Young-don, head of the city's Fire Prevention Division, said, "This year, we will continue to strive to ensure citizens can live safely and comfortably through the spread of safety culture and prompt on-site activities," and added, "Citizens also need to pay attention and care to fire prevention to avoid fires caused by minor carelessness."

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