Seoul City Compensates 23 Cases of Private Losses at Disaster Sites... 59 Cases of Obstructing Firefighting Activities Referred to Prosecution

Compensation for Civilian Losses at Disaster Sites According to Ordinance

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters announced on the 19th that it completed compensation for 23 cases last year, including those involving the use of private resources or private losses during disaster and accident response operations.

Seoul City was the first among nationwide fire agencies in 2018 to establish an on-site civil complaint response team, promoting support and compensation for human and material private resources provided during disaster response activities.

The support and compensation system is based on the "Ordinance on Compensation for Losses in Firefighting Activities" and the "Ordinance on the Use and Support of Private Resources at Disaster Sites," aimed at supporting citizens who cooperated to reduce damage in disaster situations such as fires. Accordingly, last year, compensation was provided for 23 cases, including 12 cases of private resource utilization and 11 cases of loss compensation at disaster sites, with a total compensation amount of 12 million KRW.

Compensation for the use of private resources included not only material resources such as the deployment of heavy equipment but also support for citizens who participated in rescue activities. A representative case was on March 6 last year, when a citizen who participated in rescuing a woman attempting an extreme act in the Han River was supported with medical expenses for injuries sustained during the rescue process. Furthermore, active support was provided for the citizen to be designated as a medical merit recipient recognized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the citizen was actually selected as a grade 9 medical merit recipient.

Loss compensation is provided when citizens suffer damage due to legitimate firefighting activities and is paid after review by the Seoul Fire Activity Loss Compensation Deliberation Committee. A total of 48 cases were received, and 11 cases were compensated with a total of 4 million KRW. Major compensation cases include forced opening of neighbors’ house doors during fires and damage to surrounding vehicles during icicle safety measures.

Meanwhile, Seoul City is operating the 119 Metropolitan Investigation Unit on a trial basis to investigate obstruction of firefighting activities and provide legal support for traffic accidents involving fire trucks, allowing firefighters to focus on on-site activities. Last year, 78 cases of obstruction of firefighting activities, including assaults on paramedics, were investigated, with 59 cases referred to the prosecution. Legal support was provided for 319 traffic accidents occurring during emergency fire truck dispatches.

Choi Tae-young, head of the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters, said, “We have strengthened the professionalism of firefighting support duties so that active firefighting safety services can be provided at disaster sites,” and added, “Through this, Seoul Fire will become even closer to the citizens.”

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