[Public Voices] Fire Service That Changed the Disaster Response Paradigm, Pledging 100 Years of Safety

The sense of mission to save lives and the will to survive create miracles. Last year, two residents were miraculously rescued after 13 hours at an apartment flooding site in Pohang caused by Typhoon Hinnamnor, showing that miracle. Similarly, two miners who survived after being trapped for 10 days in a mine in Gyeongbuk Bonghwa delivered a message of hope to the entire nation. Over the past year, we have created numerous miracles through solidarity and cooperation beyond the boundaries of ministries, cities, provinces, and the nation.

In February, when a magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook the Antakya region of T?rkiye, our government swiftly dispatched the largest-ever single emergency relief personnel to the site. Sixty-two members of the National Fire Agency’s international rescue team were sent as the first overseas emergency relief team along with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense, rescuing eight survivors from the rubble of collapsed buildings. The world hailed the rescue capabilities demonstrated by our team as a miraculous feat.

At the scene of that miracle was the Fire Service’s determination to respond swiftly to the changing disaster environment. Today’s disasters threaten humanity in ways completely different from those experienced before. The government’s ongoing ‘Comprehensive Plan for National Disaster Safety System Reform’ represents a strong commitment to protect citizens’ daily lives from new disasters and to redesign a more meticulous, life-centered disaster safety management system.

Last year’s heavy rainfall in the metropolitan area served as an opportunity to advance the emergency call reception system and marked the beginning of a scientific and intelligent disaster management system. Fire headquarters across cities and provinces nationwide have expanded their call centers and established a digital AI-based emergency call reception system that assesses urgency from the initial call, recognizes and learns the caller’s voice, and converts the report into text.

Alongside this, a linked system is being developed to analyze patient transport status and enable real-time tracking to increase survival rates of transported patients and improve response capabilities in mass casualty incidents for 119 paramedics.

Moreover, the introduction of cutting-edge firefighting equipment has changed the paradigm of disaster response. Firefighting drones collect basic data for response strategy formulation at various disaster sites, and unmanned fire suppression vehicles take over in fire scenes where personnel cannot enter due to collapse risks. In wildfire areas, rugged pump vehicles ensure the safety of firefighters, and the large-capacity water cannon system capable of spraying 75,000 tons of water per minute not only protects key national facilities and cultural heritage but also accelerated the normalization of operations at the POSCO factory flooded by heavy rain through drainage work.

Furthermore, these firefighting efforts will extend beyond disaster sites. To develop the domestic firefighting industry, unreasonable regulations will be boldly reformed, and efforts will be made to promote the firefighting industry by improving basic standards of domestic firefighting equipment to meet international criteria, thereby enhancing international competitiveness and export activation.

One year has passed since the government’s launch. The record of the past year for the Fire Service commits us to a ‘safer 100 years’ ahead. We will continuously face new disasters and pursue development and innovation, but amidst these changes, the important and noble values that must never be forgotten are the sense of mission and will to save the lives and safe daily lives of the people. Promising a safer Republic of Korea and a safer 100 years, over 67,000 firefighting personnel nationwide will continue to create miracles at countless disaster sites.

Nam Hwa-young, Commissioner of the National Fire Agency

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