Gwangju City "Fire Extinguishers Must Be Equipped in Cars"

Mandatory Installation of Vehicle Fire Extinguishers Starting December

Image of promotional material for 'Vehicle Fire Extinguisher'. Provided by Gwangju City.

Starting December 1st, all vehicles must be equipped with a fire extinguisher inside the vehicle.

According to the Gwangju Fire Safety Headquarters on the 26th, from next month, the mandatory installation of vehicle fire extinguishers will be expanded to include all vehicles with five or more seats.

Under the revised "Firefighting Facilities Installation and Management Act" amended in November 2021, after a three-year grace period, the mandatory installation of vehicle fire extinguishers will be expanded to all vehicles with five or more seats starting December 1st this year. Previously, only vehicles with seven or more seats were required to have fire extinguishers installed.

Vehicle fires can be caused by various factors such as mechanical issues like engine overheating, negligence such as poor maintenance, and traffic accidents. To enable prompt response to fires in five-seat vehicles, the installation obligation has been expanded.

The mandatory installation applies to vehicles manufactured, assembled, imported, or sold after December 1st, as well as vehicles with ownership changes. It does not apply retroactively to already registered vehicles. The presence of a vehicle fire extinguisher will be checked during vehicle inspections.

The vehicle fire extinguisher must be a powder extinguisher, and for five-seat passenger cars, one 0.7kg extinguisher should be installed near the driver's seat.

In particular, the extinguisher must have a label indicating it is "for vehicle use." General powder extinguishers and aerosol-type extinguishing devices without this label are not considered legal vehicle fire extinguishers, so caution is required.

In the case of electric vehicle fires, if the battery catches fire, vehicle fire extinguishers are not effective and it is difficult to extinguish the fire, but they are useful in preventing the spread of fire at earlier stages.

Before the enforcement of the revised law, the Gwangju Fire Safety Headquarters supported 2,520 taxis with vehicle fire extinguishers last year to establish an initial response system for vehicle fires and conducted a campaign to promote the mandatory installation of vehicle fire extinguishers to taxi passengers.

Kim Mun-yong, head of the Gwangju Fire Safety Headquarters, said, "Vehicle fire extinguishers can protect citizens' precious lives and property by enabling rapid suppression of vehicle fires," and added, "We hope that the enforcement of the revised law will create a safer automotive environment."

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