One in Three Lodging Facilities Has Poor Fire Prevention and Safety Equipment... Issues with Fire Door Closure and Management

Fire Agency Conducts Safety Investigation After Bucheon Hotel Fire

One out of three lodging facilities in South Korea was found to have improperly managed fire prevention and firefighting equipment, such as floor-level fire doors and automatic door openers for guest room entrances.

On the 31st, the National Fire Agency announced the results of a fire safety inspection conducted by 19 city and provincial fire headquarters nationwide from August 22 to November 30. The inspection targeted 3,325 lodging facilities and assessed the maintenance status of evacuation and fire prevention facilities, including floor-level fire doors and automatic door openers for guest room entrances, as well as illegal acts such as the disabling of firefighting equipment.

The investigation revealed 1,903 defects in 3,325 facilities, accounting for 36.9%. Among these, the fire authorities issued fines for 70 cases, corrective orders for 1,712 cases, and notifications to relevant agencies for 121 cases. Facilities fined included those with closed or damaged evacuation and fire prevention facilities such as fire doors (3 million KRW), and unauthorized manipulation such as cutting power to receivers or stopping alarms (2 million KRW).

Additionally, in preparation for the year-end and New Year period, an unannounced inspection was conducted on 672 lodging facilities nationwide on the 19th, uncovering 288 defects in 169 facilities, representing 25.1%. Among these, 17 cases received fines, 256 cases were issued corrective orders, and 15 cases were reported to relevant agencies.

The National Fire Agency conducted a three-month fire safety education program for lodging facility personnel nationwide to prevent incidents similar to the Bucheon hotel fire in August, which resulted in 19 casualties. Through group training at fire stations, participants were educated on the proper use and management of evacuation equipment such as emergency escape devices and participated in practical training.

Fire stations nationwide distributed materials including ▲self-inspection checklists for evacuation equipment such as emergency escape devices, ▲instructional videos on how to use emergency escape devices, and sent related documents and notices for use by lodging facility fire safety managers and other stakeholders.

Hong Young-geun, Director of the Fire Prevention Bureau at the National Fire Agency, stated, "Due to recent lodging facility fires causing multiple casualties from neglect in maintaining firefighting and evacuation facilities, we plan to regularly conduct nationwide simultaneous unannounced inspections of illegal acts at the same time across cities and provinces as needed." He added, "We will continue education and publicity efforts to establish a culture of voluntary safety management and strive to raise safety awareness among stakeholders and encourage public participation."

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