Seoul Fire Department: "Workplace Fires Most Frequent Every March"

Special Caution Urged for Forest Fires Including Wildfires

The Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Headquarters urged compliance with fire prevention and safety rules on the 10th of March, based on an analysis of fires, disasters, and safety accidents that occurred over the past five years (2018-2022).

According to the Fire & Disaster Headquarters, during the statistical analysis period, there were 2,296 fires in March, accounting for 8.3% of all fires, which is a 6.7% increase compared to February.

By location, residential fires were the most frequent with 888 cases, followed by fires in living service facilities and sales/office facilities. Notably, fires at workplaces such as ironworks numbered 55, the highest in March throughout the year. Additionally, there were 25 forest fires, including 16 wildfires, making March the second highest month for forest fires after April.

In particular, due to the recent ongoing dry weather, wildfires have occurred nationwide, prompting the government to designate the period from March 6 to April 30 as the ‘Special Wildfire Countermeasure Period’ and to raise the national wildfire disaster alert level from ‘Caution’ to ‘Warning.’

Meanwhile, from 2018 to 2022, there were a total of 61,500 119 emergency dispatches related to safety accidents in March. Especially in March, due to the seasonal characteristic of thawing frozen ground, there were 73 collapse accidents including landslides and ground subsidence, which is 20 cases (37.7%) more than the previous month.

Son Byeong-du, Head of the Field Response Division at the Seoul Fire & Disaster Headquarters, said, “March, when the weather gradually warms up, often sees major fires caused by momentary carelessness and small negligence,” and added, “We ask for your attention and caution regarding fire prevention.”

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