[Public Voices] Apartment Fires: Evacuate After Assessing, Not Unconditionally

In the Year of the Blue Dragon,
Ensuring Residential Safety Begins with
"Check Before Evacuating During a Fire"

In Yeongju, Gyeongbuk, there is Buseoksa, a thousand-year-old temple founded during the reign of King Munmu of Silla. Buseoksa, which preserves the characteristics of traditional Korean architecture, has a legend about a dragon that has been passed down since its founding.

The legend tells that when Uisang Daesa returned from studying in the Tang Dynasty, a woman named Seonmyo, who admired him, threw herself into the sea and became a dragon protecting the boat carrying Uisang Daesa. The dragon-transformed Seonmyo continued to watch over him even after he arrived in Silla.

Behind Buseoksa’s Muryangsujeon Hall, there is a rock called Buseok (浮石), which is said to be the rock that transformed into the Seonmyo dragon. As can be seen from this legend, dragons in the East are regarded as sacred beings that protect the nation and guard humans. This year is the Year of the Dragon, Gapjin Year (甲辰年).

Seoul Fire Department will thoroughly incorporate detailed measures to protect citizens’ lives and safety by promoting fire safety policies and establishing disaster response systems so that the Gapjin Year, which began with the energy of the Blue Dragon, can be a safe year.

We also strongly urge citizens to familiarize themselves with several safety guidelines to ensure safety during apartment fires. First, practice “checking before evacuating when there is a fire” and “closing doors and evacuating during a fire.” Until now, it was recommended to evacuate to an outside area far from the fire site, but rather than unconditional “evacuation,” please assess the evacuation conditions based on the fire location and the influence of flames and smoke, and evacuate accordingly.

If a fire occurs in your home or smoke or flames enter your home due to a neighbor’s fire, you should close the front door and quickly evacuate to the ground or rooftop using the stairs while staying low.

If evacuation outside the front door is difficult, move to a place with lightweight partitions installed and stay away from flames or smoke. If smoke or flames do not enter your home, it is safer to stay indoors, block smoke entry points such as windows and door gaps, and follow the instructions of the announcement rather than evacuating unconditionally.

Especially, if the fire door does not close properly during a fire, apartment evacuation stairs have a chimney effect that causes smoke and flames to rapidly spread to upper floors. Therefore, when evacuating, be sure to close the front door to prevent the spread of smoke and flames and help your family and neighbors evacuate to a safe area.

Also, apartment management offices should regularly provide announcements about fire evacuation procedures so that residents can become well acquainted with evacuation methods, and in the event of an actual fire, convey appropriate evacuation methods suited to the fire situation to residents.

Along with this, it is very important that fire-fighting and fire prevention facilities operate properly. To this end, voluntary participation and inspections by apartment fire safety managers and residents are necessary to ensure that the annual operational and comprehensive inspections are effectively conducted.

Since apartments are spaces where many residents live in one building, even a small fire can cause many casualties. To minimize casualties from fire, please report any fire immediately to 119.

In a few days, the great traditional holiday of our people, “Seol,” will approach. One of the origins of “Seol,” “seolta,” contains the meanings of “to refrain” or “to be cautious.” With a small interest and participation in safety from the public, our fire department will “refrain” from any careless acts and “be cautious” in mindset to welcome a safe first day of the new year.

Hwang Gi-seok, Head of Seoul Fire & Disaster Headquarters

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