1700 Fire Safety Violations Detected Last Year... 16% Increase Compared to Previous Year

Fire Special Investigation Unit Transfers 1,433 Cases to Prosecution

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The National Fire Agency announced on the 4th that last year, the Fire Special Judicial Police (hereinafter Fire Special Judicial Police) detected 1,700 violations of fire-related laws. This is an increase of 15.7% (231 cases) compared to the previous year.

The Fire Special Judicial Police referred 1,433 cases (2,502 suspects) to the prosecution, an increase of 9.6% (125 cases) from 2019, and among the 2,502 suspects, 2,294 (91.7%) were sent with prosecution opinions, while the remaining 208 were sent with non-prosecution opinions. The Fire Special Judicial Police are authorized by law to perform the duties of judicial police officers and can conduct independent investigations into violations of seven laws, including the Framework Act on Fire Services.

The number of violations by law was as follows: 764 cases under the Dangerous Goods Safety Management Act, 441 cases under the Act on the Installation, Maintenance, and Safety Management of Firefighting Facilities and Fire Prevention, and 367 cases under the Firefighting Facilities Construction Business Act. In particular, violations of the Firefighting Facilities Construction Business Act and the Dangerous Goods Safety Management Act increased by 65.3% (145 cases) and 51.3% (259 cases), respectively, compared to 2019. This was analyzed as an effect of the nationwide simultaneous crackdown on violations of the Dangerous Goods Safety Management Act and the Firefighting Facilities Construction Business Act led by the National Fire Agency in the second half of last year.

Among violations of the Dangerous Goods Safety Management Act, the most common was handling or storing dangerous goods at unauthorized locations, with 404 cases, followed by 76 cases of changing the location or structure of manufacturing sites without permission, and 53 cases of negligence in safety management supervision.

Additionally, there were 244 cases of obstruction of firefighting activities. Among them, 213 suspects were under the influence of alcohol, and 13 had mental disorders. Types of obstruction included 220 cases of assault, 3 cases of property damage, 3 cases of obstruction of passage, and 2 cases of sexual harassment.

Meanwhile, in June last year in Gwangju Metropolitan City, an ambulance worker suffered a concussion and head contusion due to verbal abuse and facial assault by a patient (suspect) who was intoxicated while being examined inside the ambulance. The suspect was referred for violating the 119 Act and was sentenced to six months in prison, two years probation, and ordered to perform community service.

Nam Hwa-young, Director of Fire Policy at the National Fire Agency, said, "We will strengthen law enforcement with a zero-tolerance principle and enhance prevention and publicity activities so that people can comply with the law themselves until practices that threaten public safety are eradicated."

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