Gyeonggi Fire Department to Conduct Fire Prevention Safety Inspections at 414 Temples Ahead of Buddha's Birthday

The Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Headquarters is conducting fire safety management and fire prevention inspections at 414 temples in the province by May 25, ahead of Buddha's Birthday on May 24.

This action is being taken to prevent fire hazards at traditional temples and wooden cultural heritage sites in advance, as the period sees increased use of candles and electricity and a concentration of visitors due to the Buddha's Birthday celebrations.

The provincial fire and disaster headquarters, in cooperation with city and county governments, is first carrying out on-site joint inspections, focusing on the maintenance status and any deficiencies of fire safety facilities.

In particular, for 105 traditional temples, fire safety facilities will be thoroughly inspected, and on-site safety guidance will be provided on initial response measures and evacuation procedures in the event of a fire.

Furthermore, the headquarters is operating a "one-to-one safety manager system," in which fire officials at the team leader level or higher are assigned to oversee specific temples. Firefighting forces will also be deployed around temples with wooden cultural assets or scheduled Buddha's Birthday events, in order to maintain a rapid on-site response system in case of emergencies.

Chung Chang-dong, Acting Head of Central Division at Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters, is conducting an on-site fire prevention inspection at Shinreuksa Temple in Yeoju on the 21st. Provided by Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters

Earlier on the same day, Choi Yongcheol, Acting Chief of Central Duty at the Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Headquarters, visited Sinreuksa Temple in Yeoju to conduct an on-site fire prevention inspection.

Sinreuksa is a traditional temple that holds a large number of cultural assets, including eight treasures and four tangible cultural properties. The temple has a concentration of wooden structures such as Geungnakbojeon Hall, raising significant concerns about the spread of damage in the event of a fire.

Choi Yongcheol, Acting Chief of Central Duty at the Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Headquarters, stated, "The most important thing is to prevent fires at temples and cultural heritage sites from occurring in the first place. Since wildfires are essentially a race against time, we will continue to prepare on-site response systems and training, such as the application of fire retardants, so that we can block the flames before they reach the temples."

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