Last Year in Northern Gyeonggi: 'Fire Incidents and Casualties' Decreased, 'Property Damage Amount' Increased

Fire incidents down 8.7% and casualties down 10%, property damage more than doubles
68.4% of deaths occur in residential facilities... Need for installation of residential fire safety equipment

File photo [Uijeongbu Fire Station]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Last year, the number of fires and casualties in the northern part of Gyeonggi Province decreased compared to the previous year, while property damage more than doubled.

According to an analysis of last year's fire statistics in the northern Gyeonggi area released by the Gyeonggi Northern Fire and Disaster Headquarters on the 4th, a total of 2,374 fires occurred in 2021, down 8.7% from 2,599 fires the previous year.

The scale of casualties also slightly decreased from 170 cases in 2020 (25 deaths, 145 injuries) to 153 cases last year (19 deaths, 134 injuries).

Regarding the cause of this decline, the Fire Headquarters explained, "It is analyzed that the mandatory installation rate of residential fire safety equipment (standalone smoke detectors and fire extinguishers) significantly increased to 82%, which was effective."

However, property damage amounted to approximately 161.6 billion KRW, more than double the 72.2 billion KRW of the previous year. In particular, damage to buildings accounted for 158.9 billion KRW, representing 98% of the total fire property damage.

This is about 2.3 times the previous year's building damage of 69 billion KRW, and to reduce this, it was found necessary to maintain fire safety facilities and fire compartments so that they are always operational.

The number of deaths caused by fire decreased by about 24%, from 25 in 2020 to 19 last year, but 13 deaths were identified in residential facilities.

Accordingly, the Fire Headquarters analyzed that continuous attention and efforts, such as installing residential fire safety equipment in homes of socially vulnerable groups who have difficulty evacuating, are necessary.

Lee Jae-il, Head of Response at the Northern Fire and Disaster Headquarters, said, "Residential fires often start slowly from very small sparks, making early detection difficult," adding, "Small attention within the home, such as installing fire alarms, can be a great force in protecting precious lives."

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