One in Three Electrical Fires Has an 'Unidentified Cause'... Damages Soaring

Won Kim: "We Must Shift to an AI-Based Preventive Safety System"

Won Kim, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

It has been pointed out that urgent measures are needed, as one out of every three electrical fires over the past five years has been classified as an "unidentified short-circuit" fire, with the cause remaining undetermined.

According to data submitted by Won Kim, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea representing Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, to the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation on September 22, the proportion of electrical fires caused by unidentified short circuits increased from 28.1% (2,297 out of 8,170 cases) in 2020 to 35.1% (3,034 out of 8,634 cases) in 2024. Even in the first half of this year (as of the end of June), 1,615 out of 4,201 electrical fires (38.4%) were attributed to short circuits of unknown origin.

The scale of property damage has also risen sharply. The amount of damages, which stood at 47.4 billion won in 2020, surged more than 2.4 times to 115.4 billion won last year. In just the first half of this year, damages exceeded 51.7 billion won.

Human casualties are also severe. The proportion of casualties from electrical fires caused by unidentified short circuits rose from 57.5% in 2020 to 74.7% last year. The number of deaths increased from 25 to 31 during this period, while injuries rose from 193 to 247.

The Korea Electrical Safety Corporation cited the increasing number of large and high-rise buildings due to industrial advancement and changes in residential environments as reasons for the difficulty in extinguishing fires and identifying their causes. The corporation explained that fire traces are often destroyed during firefighting, making it difficult to determine the cause.

Won Kim emphasized, "More than three out of every ten electrical fires occur without even identifying the cause," and added, "We need to overhaul our accident investigation systems and adopt AI-based analysis technologies to shift from a 'post-incident response' to a 'preventive electrical safety system.'"

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