Jeju Fire Headquarters Establishes 'Testing and Analysis Laboratory' for Fire Investigation

[Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Jeongpil] The Jeju Fire Safety Headquarters (Chief Park Geun-oh) announced on the 24th that by establishing a fire investigation testing and analysis laboratory and utilizing specialized fire investigation equipment, it is expected to enable more systematic and scientific determination of fire causes.

The fire investigation testing and analysis laboratory was established in December last year with an area of 34.74㎡ to improve the professionalism and reliability of fire investigations. It operates with 13 types and 13 units of specialized fire investigation inspection and appraisal equipment worth approximately 550 million KRW, including an X-ray imaging device.

According to the Metropolitan Fire Investigation Team of the Fire Safety Headquarters, there have been recent cases where fire causes were identified using specialized equipment.

On December 9 last year, in a camper battery fire on a road in Andeok-myeon, Seogwipo City, internal battery damage that was difficult to confirm with the naked eye was identified using an X-ray imaging device, revealing the fire cause as thermal runaway of the battery.

On the 15th of last month, in a one-room apartment fire in Ido 2-dong, Jeju City, the operation status of an electric stove switch was confirmed using an X-ray imaging device, allowing the cause to be identified as a fire caused by the switch operation.

On the 25th of last month, in a multi-family housing fire in Aewol-eup, Jeju City, internal damage to an electric sofa connector was confirmed using an X-ray imaging device, enabling the fire cause to be determined.

The Metropolitan Fire Investigation Team plans to enhance professionalism by providing education and practical training on the use of specialized equipment for fire investigators at fire stations starting this year, and to increase the utilization of the fire investigation testing and analysis laboratory through risk analysis and fire prevention promotion based on reproduction experiments of frequently occurring fire products.

Park Geun-oh, Chief of the Fire Safety Headquarters, said, “With the establishment of the fire investigation testing and analysis laboratory, more systematic analysis and determination of fire causes have become possible,” and added, “We will strive further to secure the reliability and fairness of firefighting through scientific fire investigations.”

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Fire Investigation Team, launched in July 2020, has played a key role in strengthening its status as a specialized fire investigation agency by actively identifying fire causes through a total of 417 major fire investigations, supporting fire compensation (14 cases), and assisting in the arrest of arsonists (25 cases).

Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Jeongpil panax33@asiae.co.kr

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