Repeated Underground Parking Lot Fires... Safety Device Inspection Essential

32 Underground Parking Lot Fires This Year...7 Dead, 1 Injured
Fires Presumed Electrical Causes from Vehicles and Electric Kickboards

On the morning of the 27th of last month, the day after the fire at Daejeon Hyundai Premium Outlet, a firefighter is explaining the entrance of the underground parking lot that was swept by the flames.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jung-wan] It has been revealed that there were 300 underground parking lot fires nationwide over the past five years.

According to data submitted by the Fire Agency to Jeong Woo-taek, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the People Power Party, a total of 296 underground parking lot fires occurred over the 4 years and 9 months from 2018 to last month. These incidents resulted in 12 deaths, 75 injuries, and property damage amounting to 29.1 billion KRW.

In 2018, there were 70 fires causing 3 deaths and 57 injuries. The number of fires decreased from 76 in 2019 to 47 in 2020, but rose again to 71 last year. There were no deaths in 2019 and 2020, but 2 deaths occurred last year.

This year, concerns about fire and other risks in underground spaces have increased after a fire at the underground parking lot of Hyundai Premium Outlet Daejeon on the 26th of last month resulted in 7 deaths and 1 serious injury. In the year of the Daejeon outlet fire, there were 32 fires causing 7 deaths and 1 injury by September, with property damage reaching 20 billion KRW.

In July, a fire started from a charging electric kickboard battery in an underground parking lot of a villa in Mapo-gu, Seoul, spreading to nearby cardboard boxes and vehicles, causing property damage worth 60 million KRW.

Also, in April, a fire presumed to be caused by electrical factors occurred in a passenger car in an underground parking lot of an apartment in Gimhae, Gyeongnam, completely burning 6 vehicles including surrounding cars. Three other vehicles were partially burned, resulting in damage worth 480 million KRW.

Looking at fires from 2018 to September this year by region, Seoul had the highest number of fires with 102 cases, followed by Gyeonggi-do with 72, Busan 31, Incheon 15, and Gyeongnam 14. The regions where underground parking lot fire fatalities occurred are Daejeon (7 deaths), Ulsan (3 deaths), and Sejong (2 deaths), totaling three locations.

Since underground areas have a higher risk of fire than aboveground, they require focused management. There are also calls to supplement installation standards for fire prevention shutters or fire doors that block fire spread, and smoke ventilation systems that expel smoke outside during a fire.

Assemblyman Jeong emphasized, "In less than five years, precious lives have been lost due to underground parking lot fires, and hundreds of billions of KRW in property damage have occurred. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Fire Agency need to analyze major fire causes by type to prepare countermeasures and conduct a full inspection to understand the status of sprinkler installations in underground parking lots nationwide."

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