Changwon Special City, "Citizens' Safety is the Top Priority · Realizing a Safe City"

Changwon Fire Headquarters, Responding with a Field-Centered All-Out Effort

Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam Province has decided to prepare for large-scale fires by installing fire extinguisher boxes near forest-adjacent areas and establishing a public-private cooperative strategic system in traditional markets to realize a safe city that prioritizes citizens' safety.

According to the Changwon Fire Headquarters, last year there were 48 forest fire incidents, accounting for 7.8% of all fire cases. There were 4 casualties and property damage amounted to approximately 52 million KRW.

Changwon Special City Hall, Gyeongnam.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

In April last year, a fire broke out at Chusan Neighborhood Park in Masanhappo-gu, spreading to a nearby mountain, causing about 100 residents to evacuate.

Since fires near forest-adjacent areas can quickly become uncontrollable, the city will install mini fire station boxes at 16 locations around temples and wall-mounted fire extinguishers at 30 pavilions, which serve as rest areas along forest trails.

The mini fire station box refers to a box equipped with eight 3.3 kg powder fire extinguishers, and the wall-mounted fire extinguisher box refers to a fire extinguisher box attached to the walls of pavilions along forest trails.

The city installs fire extinguisher boxes even in places where fewer people reside to prepare for forest fires and enable early fire suppression.

Additionally, an important measure for a field-centered total response is to implement safety measures for traditional markets, where many people come and go and significant property damage can occur.

Traditional markets have a maze-like alley structure densely packed with small stores, making fire risks always present.

The city will first establish a public-private cooperative strategic system at Masan Fish Market. By linking IoT sensors installed in the fish market last year, the city will create numbering maps (showing unique numbers for zones and stores and indicating entry and exit routes) and fire prevention system diagrams to enable faster response.

For practical field response, the city regularly conducts training to secure market access routes and, to prevent fires centered on stakeholders, provides education and training using emergency fire extinguisher boxes installed in traditional markets and launches autonomous fire brigades to prepare for human and economic losses.

In particular, commercial districts with many unspecified visitors are places where the most casualties can occur in case of fire.

To achieve zero casualties, the city will prepare customized rescue measures using special vehicles and air safety mats for 162 buildings of four floors or higher in the Sangnam commercial district of Seongsan-gu.

Furthermore, to strengthen the citizen safety network, the city will install residential fire safety facilities in 14,948 households in Changwon, targeting the most common fire locations?residences.

Kim Yong-jin, head of the Changwon Fire Headquarters, said, “We will take the lead in realizing a safe Changwon City through proactive prevention and training and a field-centered total response.”

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