Chungnam, 655 Factory Fires in the Last 5 Years... "2.7 Out of 10 Cases Due to Negligence"

Firefighters are extinguishing a fire at the Asan factory fire site last January. Photo by Chungnam Fire Headquarters

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] A total of 655 factory fires have occurred in Chungnam over the past five years, causing casualties and property damage. In particular, it was found that 2.7 out of every 10 fires were due to negligence.

According to the Chungnam Fire Headquarters on the 26th, a total of 11,663 fires occurred in Chungnam from 2017 to 2021, of which 5.6% were reported to have occurred in factories.

Factory fires resulted in the loss of 2 lives and injuries to 35 people. This accounts for 10.4% of the total 353 casualties from all fire incidents.

The scale of property damage caused by factory fires was even greater. The total property damage from fires over the past five years amounted to 43.473 billion KRW, with factory fires accounting for 32.7% of the total property damage during this period.

Notably, the analysis of fire causes shows that negligence accounted for the largest proportion of factory fires, with 178 cases (27.2%) occurring over the past five years. Electrical causes (148 cases, 22.6%) and mechanical causes (147 cases, 22.4%) followed, indicating that most factory fires were accidents caused by human factors.

Among factory fires caused by negligence, the most frequent were those occurring during welding, cutting, and grinding operations, with 63 cases (35.4%), followed by cigarette butts with 53 cases (29.8%), and fires caused by leaving embers and flames unattended with 21 cases (11.8%).

Oh Kyung-jin, head of the fire investigation team at the Chungnam Fire Headquarters, said, “Factories have many processes that generate high-temperature sparks and store flammable materials, so there is a high risk of large-scale fires spreading along with explosions. It is important for managers to always follow safety rules and make efforts to prevent fires.”