Chungnam Fire Department: "Forcing Entry by Bypassing Illegal Parking... Prioritizing Golden Time Securing"

Fire trucks are lined up responding to a fire on the third floor of a commercial building. Photo is unrelated to the article. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Chungnam Provincial Fire Headquarters has taken a tough stance against illegally parked vehicles obstructing fire truck access. They are prepared to risk damaging illegally parked vehicles to protect the golden time.

On the 3rd, the Provincial Fire Headquarters announced that it has established and will implement the "2022 Comprehensive Measures to Secure Golden Time for Fire Dispatch."

The comprehensive measures were formulated based on the judgment that continuous management and improvement are necessary, considering the frequent situations where fire trucks cannot enter fire scenes due to illegally parked vehicles.

The ultimate goal is to increase the rate of fire trucks arriving at fire scenes within "7 minutes" of receiving a report to 72%.

This goal is set based on the so-called "Peak 8-Minute Arrival" theory, which states that after 8 minutes of a fire outbreak, all objects are heated, causing flames to erupt simultaneously, making survival impossible for residents.

To maintain the golden time (7 minutes) for arriving at fire scenes, the Provincial Fire Headquarters plans to enforce compulsory measures against vehicles obstructing firefighting activities.

The core policy is that if dispatch time is delayed due to illegally parked vehicles, fire trucks will be allowed to enter the scene even if the obstructing vehicle is damaged, based on the judgment of the fire station chief or captain.

In such cases, damages recognized as caused by firefighter negligence will be compensated through fire administrative liability insurance. However, the Provincial Fire Headquarters explained that they will not compensate for damages to vehicles damaged due to lawful compulsory measures against illegally parked vehicles.

Along with strengthening compulsory measures, plans to establish a simultaneous dispatch system for tow trucks will also be pursued. This is a means to quickly remove vehicles obstructing fire truck access.

Additionally, they plan to strengthen crackdowns on illegal parking around firefighting water sources and facilities, and conduct preemptive enforcement activities such as direct crackdowns on illegally parked vehicles during fire patrols, training, and geographic surveys, or reporting violations to the relevant local governments via the Safe Report app.

Meanwhile, last year, the Provincial Fire Headquarters recorded a 7-minute arrival rate of 71.8% at fire scenes, ranking first among provincial-level regions nationwide.

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