Gwangyang Fire Station Launches Campaign to Promote Location Awareness of Lightweight Partition Walls in Apartment Complexes

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Gwangyang Fire Station (Chief Choi Hyun-kyung) announced on the 27th that it has launched an intensive campaign to raise awareness of safety regarding evacuation facilities and to identify the location of lightweight partitions in apartment complexes to reduce casualties.

In a high-rise apartment fire in Gwangyang City last September, a woman in her 30s who knew information about and the location of the lightweight partition was able to protect a precious life by breaking through the lightweight partition while holding her 6-month-old baby and evacuating to the neighboring unit.

The lightweight partition is installed on the balcony wall as a lightweight structure made of easily breakable materials such as 9mm thin gypsum board, to prepare for situations where it is difficult to evacuate through entrances or stairs during fires in apartments or other multi-family housing. In case of fire, it can be broken with a hammer or by kicking to evacuate to the neighboring unit.

Since the revision of the Housing Act regulations in 1992, the installation of lightweight partitions has been mandatory on balconies of apartments with three or more floors. For apartments built after 2005, evacuation spaces and lightweight partitions can be selectively installed, so some apartments have separate evacuation spaces instead of lightweight partitions.

A Gwangyang Fire Station official said, “We hope that residents will remember to know in advance the location of lightweight partitions, emergency escape devices, or evacuation spaces in their homes, learn how to use them, and avoid placing items or storage cabinets in balcony lightweight partition areas or evacuation spaces, as blocking emergency exits will directly affect the safety of their precious families.”