368 Air Conditioner Fires in the Last 5 Years... Seoul City Urges Caution for Air Conditioner Fires in July and August

"Electrical factors" account for 77%... Poor wire contact in air conditioner outdoor units is the most common cause

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters recently announced the results of a statistical analysis of cooling device fires over the past five years and urged special caution regarding fires caused by electrical factors in air conditioner outdoor units.

According to the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters on the 14th, there were 368 cooling device fire incidents in the past five years, resulting in 24 casualties (3 deaths, 21 injuries) and property damage worth 1.3 billion KRW. By year, the highest number of incidents was 96 in 2017, which decreased to 54 in both 2019 and 2020, but increased again to 74 last year.

Monthly data shows that 197 incidents (53.5%) occurred between July and August, accounting for more than half of the total fires. The causes of fires were mostly electrical factors with 285 cases (77.4%), followed by mechanical factors with 35 cases (9.5%), and negligence with 19 cases (5.2%). Among the 285 fires caused by electrical factors, short circuits due to poor contact were the most common with 96 cases, followed by short circuits caused by damaged wire insulation with 82 cases, and overheating and overload with 16 cases.

In fact, on the 27th of last month, a fire presumed to be caused by electrical factors broke out in an air conditioner outdoor unit installed in an apartment unit in Heukseok-dong, Dongjak-gu, causing 49 residents to evacuate.

Choi Tae-young, head of the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters, said, “With the onset of the intense heat, special caution is needed to prevent fires when using cooling devices,” and added, “Seoul Fire will continue to provide safety information through various media such as SNS to ensure citizen safety during the summer.”

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