[Performance of Gyeonggi Fire Service under the 7th Elected Administration] Remarkable Progress in 'Personnel, Equipment, and Disaster Education'

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi-do Fire Department is undergoing significant changes three years after Governor Lee Jae-myung took office.

With continuous reinforcement of firefighting personnel and equipment, the province has established a nationwide top-level safety system. The advanced disaster response system, including the strengthening of the integrated disaster site management system, has also been further enhanced. Meanwhile, disaster safety education and safety experience education visiting residents have shown great results.

As a result of these efforts, the number of fire incidents in the province has decreased annually from 9,799 cases in 2017 to 8,920 cases in 2020. Gyeonggi-do has achieved a Grade 1 rating for three consecutive years from 2018 to 2020 in the fire category of the regional safety index evaluation for metropolitan local governments conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

◆ Reinforcement of Firefighting Personnel and Equipment

Since 2019, Gyeonggi-do has increased the number of firefighting officials by 2,112 over the past three years. Once the personnel hired this year are assigned to each fire station, three-shift work will be fully possible in the field departments.

Efforts to replace and reinforce outdated and insufficient firefighting equipment are also accelerating. As of the end of last month, 245,155 items have been replaced. Additionally, 318 main and special firefighting vehicles have been newly introduced.

In October 2019, Suwon Nambu Fire Station was newly established, and by this year, a total of 26 119 Safety Centers have been or are scheduled to be newly established.

Governor Lee Jae-myung stated via social networking service (SNS) in February 2019, "The first step to improving the treatment of firefighting officials is personnel reinforcement," adding, "Investment in safety may not show visible effects immediately, but I believe it will definitely create a safer Gyeonggi-do in five or ten years."

◆ Establishment of an All-round Disaster Safety System

The Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters established the '119 Report Mobile Webpage' system at the end of last year to prepare for emergency situations where 119 call volumes surge. This system allows reporters who receive a text message during call congestion to report by clicking a link.

They are also expanding the project to build an integrated disaster video monitoring system (Integrated Control Center) that helps rapid dispatch. This system enables immediate dispatch of fire or ambulance teams through CCTV when an emergency disaster or urgent situation occurs.

Furthermore, they are conducting an expansion project for an unmanned smart fire reporting system using Internet of Things (IoT) technology. When a fire breaks out in traditional markets, it is automatically detected and linked to a 119 report for immediate dispatch.

In addition, in April last year, the province launched the Fire Safety Special Inspection Team, the nation's first dedicated disaster prevention department, and has conducted fire safety information surveys and special fire inspections on 369,246 buildings in the province to date.

They have also completed joint regular inspections on 1,949 high-rise buildings over 30 floors and installed sprinklers in 265 nursing hospitals. A full survey is also underway on 613 traditional markets.

◆ Strengthening Disaster Safety Education Including Fire Safety

The Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters has selected 100 private expert instructors to conduct disaster safety education for students, the elderly, and others. So far, about 590,000 people have received education. Next year, an additional 259,000 people will be educated.

Since 2019, they have also conducted visiting safety experience education using a mobile safety experience vehicle. The Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters operates six specially modified vehicles capable of simulating various crisis situations such as earthquake experience and emergency escape.

They are also focusing on establishing a disaster safety support system for people with disabilities. In 2019, they published and distributed 5,300 copies of a standard manual for disaster response for the disabled, and last year produced sign language videos for the hearing impaired.

They have separately trained 20 specialized disaster instructors for the disabled to provide specialized education, and last year supplied basic firefighting facilities to 7,302 disabled households and conducted firefighting training and consulting at 1,142 facilities for the disabled.

Lee Sang-gyu, head of the Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters, emphasized, "To respond to unpredictable disasters and the continuous increase of high-risk facilities, we are continuously implementing effective safety measures tailored to each characteristic," adding, "We will establish necessary systems and improve insufficient ones to meet the safety needs of residents."

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