Seoul City Implements Special Guard Duty at Fire Stations Ahead of By-Elections

Starting from the 6th, Special Alert Duty at Fire Stations and Deployment of Firefighting Forces at Voting and Counting Stations

Citizens are casting their votes at the early voting station set up in the waiting room of Seoul Station on the 2nd, the early voting day for the Seoul mayoral by-election. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters announced on the 5th that it will conduct a "special alert duty" in preparation for the upcoming by-elections to be held on the 7th.

This special alert duty will be carried out by the Fire and Disaster Headquarters and affiliated fire stations from the 6th until the completion of vote counting. Fire station chiefs and others will maintain an emergency communication system and activate a rapid response system to prepare for urgent situations.

They selected 360 districts within Seoul and will conduct preventive patrols with fire vehicles at least twice a day, and deploy firefighting forces near 25 vote counting centers. An emergency communication system will also be maintained with related organizations such as the Election Commission, police, and the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation and Gas Safety Corporation.

Additionally, from the 1st until the day before the election on the 6th, the Fire and Disaster Headquarters will conduct inspections such as confirming emergency routes for fire vehicles and fire safety consulting at the 25 vote counting centers.

Furthermore, in preparation for the election, fire safety inspections were conducted at 2,701 voting and counting locations. The inspections were carried out from the 5th to the 31st of last month by a special fire investigation team, targeting 2,263 polling stations, 413 early voting stations, and 25 vote counting centers.

Through the inspections, they checked fire extinguishers, alarm facilities, and the storage of objects around evacuation facilities to ensure that the voting and counting locations operate safely.

Choi Tae-young, head of the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters, said, "We will thoroughly respond to accidents to ensure that this election, which is a precious exercise of citizens' rights, proceeds safely," and added, "We hope citizens participate in voting with peace of mind."

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