Daejeon City "77 Kimchi Refrigerator Fires in the Last 5 Years... Concentrated in July"

In the past five years, 77 kimchi refrigerator fires have been reported in Daejeon. These fires mainly occur in July, when humidity is high, requiring caution.

Provided by Daejeon Fire Headquarters

According to the Daejeon Fire Headquarters on the 17th, from 2018 to 2022, there were 1,505 kimchi refrigerator-related fires nationwide, resulting in 7 deaths and 163 injuries. The property damage was also estimated to be around 10.9 billion KRW.

During the same period, Daejeon experienced 77 fires causing 1 death, 4 injuries, and property damage amounting to approximately 430 million KRW. In the first half of this year alone, 4 kimchi refrigerator fires were confirmed in the region.

In particular, kimchi refrigerator fires in Daejeon were concentrated in residential facilities during July, when humidity is high. Among residential facilities, the proportion of kimchi refrigerator fires in multi-family housing (apartments) was significant, accounting for 74.7% of the total.

The main causes of the fires were electrical factors (75.3%) and product defects (24.7%).

A representative from the Daejeon Fire Headquarters stated, “Old kimchi refrigerators should undergo regular inspections, and installation should be avoided in places prone to moisture or dust accumulation. Above all, individual households are urged to carefully check for manufacturer recalls to prevent kimchi refrigerator fires, which tend to concentrate in the summer.”

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