Seoul City Conducts Special Fire Safety Inspections at 121 School Dormitories

Special Fire Safety Inspections Conducted from the 1st to the 18th
Special Inspection Teams Formed by Fire Stations for Checks

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters announced that it will conduct a special fire inspection of school dormitories in Seoul starting from the 3rd, in response to the recent series of university dormitory fires.

According to the Fire and Disaster Headquarters, the inspection will cover 121 school dormitories located in Seoul. School dormitories are facilities with a high occupancy relative to their size, so in the event of a fire in low-rise areas such as dining halls, laundries, or storage rooms, prompt initial response and evacuation of occupants are crucial.

In fact, on the 16th, a small fire broke out in a first-floor storage room of the student dormitory at Seoul National University in Gwanak-gu, which was not detected early and nearly escalated into a major fire. The fire was extinguished in about 40 minutes, with around 100 students evacuated and 16 people hospitalized due to smoke inhalation.

Accordingly, the Fire and Disaster Headquarters plans to conduct the special fire inspection by forming special investigation teams at each fire station until the 18th to strengthen fire prevention and safety management in school dormitories. The special inspection will be conducted through on-site checks, verifying the maintenance of fire facilities, the performance of fire safety management duties, and the securing of evacuation routes. Notably, this inspection will involve fire facility managers and representatives from the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation to focus on both sprinkler systems and electrical safety management.

Choi Tae-young, head of the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters, stated, “We plan to carry out this special fire inspection of school dormitories quickly and thoroughly before the start of the March semester,” adding, “Any deficiencies will be promptly addressed to ensure that students can focus on their studies safely.”

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