2015 Nationwide First Visible Fire Extinguisher Installation Project Launched... 42,969 Units Installed by Last Year
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] It has been revealed that Seoul citizens have extinguished 706 fires over seven years using "Visible Fire Extinguishers," reducing damage worth 24.8 billion KRW. The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to invest 130 million KRW this year to replace old fire extinguisher cabinets with new, highly visible models.
According to statistics from the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters on the 8th, a total of 42,969 visible fire extinguishers were installed from 2015 to 2021, and the number of fires directly extinguished by citizens using these "Visible Fire Extinguishers" reached 706 by last year. The cases where citizens initially extinguished fires using "Visible Fire Extinguishers" totaled 706, starting with one case in 2015 and increasing annually to 224 cases last year.
The amount of fire damage reduction achieved through this is 24.8 billion KRW, which means approximately 35 million KRW of fire damage was reduced per extinguished fire. Compared to the total cost of 4.3 billion KRW invested in installing the "Visible Fire Extinguishers," this is more than 5.8 times the amount. The "fire damage reduction amount" refers to the economic loss reduced through firefighting activities such as fire suppression at the scene, calculated through fire investigations by the fire department.
A representative case where citizens used nearby "Visible Fire Extinguishers" to initially extinguish a fire was the taxi fire in the outdoor parking lot of Myeonmok Market in Jungnang-gu on May 14 last year. At that time, the restaurant owner and nearby merchants who noticed the fire in the parked taxi used the nearby "Visible Fire Extinguishers" and fire extinguishers inside shops to suppress the fire early, preventing it from spreading into a major fire and minimizing damage.
Meanwhile, since 2019, the Fire and Disaster Headquarters has also promoted the "Street-type Visible Fire Extinguisher" project, applying standard designs for public facilities in small store-dense areas and multi-use public places within Seoul, installing 8,679 units.
This year, with a budget of 130 million KRW, the plan is to replace old fire extinguisher cabinets among those already installed with new, highly visible models. Additionally, considering recent demographic changes, areas densely populated by single-person households and old housing clusters will be designated as "Seoul-type Safe Villages," where additional "Visible Fire Extinguishers" and residential fire safety facilities will be installed to strengthen fire prevention.
Choi Tae-young, head of the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters, said, "We thank the citizens who promptly responded using 'Visible Fire Extinguishers' for public safety," and added, "We will continue to do our best to create a safer Seoul together with the citizens."
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