'Preventing Winter Fire Casualties' Jeonnam Fire Department Implements Fire Prevention Measures

The Jeonnam Fire Headquarters announced on the 1st that it will implement winter fire prevention measures for four months starting this month in preparation for the frequent fires during the winter season.

Over the past five years (2018?2022), there were 3,798 fires during the winter season (December to February of the following year), resulting in 144 casualties and property damage amounting to 40.971 billion KRW.

The causes of these fires were 62.6% due to carelessness, 17.9% electrical causes, and 8.2% mechanical factors. Among the causes of carelessness, burning garbage accounted for 28.4%, leaving embers unattended 19.16%, cigarette butts 14.16%, and burning fields and forests 8.4%.

Accordingly, Jeonnam Fire Headquarters has selected six strategies and 21 key tasks to pursue with the goal of "reducing casualties caused by large-scale winter fires."

The six strategies are ▲ autonomous safety management of specific fire targets ▲ strengthening fire prevention for large-scale fire risk targets ▲ focused safety management of fire-vulnerable facilities ▲ improvement of fire safety and spread of safety culture ▲ establishment of proactive fire response posture ▲ and special policies by region.

For places with high risk of casualties in case of fire, such as traditional markets and logistics warehouses, guidance inspections and education will be conducted to encourage autonomous safety management by related parties, and fire vulnerability factors will be eliminated through joint inspections with related organizations.

Additionally, every Friday is designated as ‘Safety Message Transmission Day’ to disseminate safety information to fire-vulnerable targets such as nursing hospitals, and fire prevention reminder messages will be sent during cold wave advisories and warnings.

For focused safety management of fire-vulnerable facilities such as those related to the disabled and elderly, ‘visiting fire safety education’ for marginalized groups and education for those responsible for fire prevention measures will be conducted.

Furthermore, fire safety equipment will be supplied to underground housing, and public campaigns using social networking services will be carried out to spread awareness of winter fire prevention.

Hong Young-geun, the head of the headquarters, said, “More than half of winter fires are caused by minor carelessness,” and added, “We will actively encourage residents’ participation in fire prevention and do our best to protect residents’ lives through proactive prevention and response activities.”

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