Seoul Fire Department Implements Winter Fire Safety Measures... Preventing Fires in Complex Buildings

In the past 3 years, a total of 15,920 fires occurred, with 5,273 cases in winter
Focused implementation of 4 major strategies including strengthened fire prevention measures for complex buildings and prevention of casualties in residential fires

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters announced on the 27th that it has designated the period from November, when the risk of fire increases, to February next year as the "Winter Fire Safety Focus Period" and will implement proactive fire prevention safety measures.

According to the Fire and Disaster Headquarters, there were 5,273 fires during the winter season over the past three years, accounting for 33.1% of the total 15,920 fires that occurred during the entire period. The number of deaths caused by winter fires over the three years was 53, representing 47.7% of the total 111 fire-related deaths during the same period. Most of the fatalities occurred in residential facilities, which ranked first as the location of fire incidents. The most common locations for winter fires were residential facilities such as apartment complexes with 2,179 cases (41.3%), followed by sales facilities with 212 cases (4.0%), and multi-use establishments with 174 cases (3.3%).

Reflecting these characteristics of winter fire damage, the Fire and Disaster Headquarters will focus on 12 tasks under 4 strategies from November to February next year, with the core goal of reducing fire casualties. The four strategies are ▲ Strengthening fire prevention in complex buildings, etc. ▲ Prioritizing prevention of casualties in residential fires ▲ Preventive measures to enhance safety for vulnerable disaster groups ▲ Conducting citizen-engaged fire prevention publicity activities. Along with reducing casualties in residential fires, there are plans to focus on preventing large fires in traditional markets, underground-connected complex buildings, and other facilities.

First, traditional markets and other places where fire risk increases in winter will be encouraged to strengthen safety management through fire prevention councils and voluntary fire brigades. Fire safety management plan implementation will be checked and improved through special fire inspections. For 183 underground-connected complex buildings frequently used by many citizens, fire safety consulting will be provided, and joint public-private training will be conducted to enhance disaster response capabilities of facility managers and others.

Additionally, to enable rapid evacuation in case of fire, large evacuation exit guide lights, photoluminescent evacuation guide lines, and evacuation maps will be installed and expanded in underground parking lots and underground office floors. Through fire safety consulting, the availability of fire truck access routes and automatic opening devices for rooftop doors will be thoroughly checked in targeted apartment complexes. Customized evacuation safety plans and evacuation method promotions will be focused on multi-unit housing with evacuation spaces. To prevent fires in semi-basement houses with narrow evacuation routes, 2,500 residential fire safety devices will be distributed free of charge, and the target facilities will be further expanded next year.

As preventive measures to enhance safety for vulnerable disaster groups, joint inspections of fire-vulnerable residential facilities such as jjokbang (small rooms), gosiwon (study rooms), and residential vinyl houses will be conducted with related agencies. Fire station chiefs and center directors will be designated as responsible officers to remove vulnerabilities in advance and provide safety education. Furthermore, the safety management system for facilities housing evacuation-vulnerable groups, such as nursing hospitals, will be strengthened. Fire risk will be assessed and graded for each facility, and to improve safety management of high-risk targets, special fire inspections, safety consulting, and on-site training will be regularly conducted to enhance fire safety.

In addition, the Fire and Disaster Headquarters plans to actively promote the spread of winter fire prevention awareness by producing videos and sharing them through various social networking services. Choi Tae-young, head of the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters, said, "We will thoroughly implement fire safety measures ahead of winter to prevent large-scale fires," and added, "We will especially actively carry out field-centered administration to reduce casualties."

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