Fire Agency: "Be Especially Careful with Fire at 'Wednesday 2 PM'"

Spring Fire Prevention Measures to Be Implemented from March to May

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The National Fire Agency announced on the 20th that it will promote customized fire prevention measures considering the seasonal characteristics and risk factors of spring, based on an analysis of fire occurrence data during spring over the past five years.

Over the past five years, the number of fires occurring in spring (March to May) totaled 54,485 cases, resulting in 2,743 casualties (458 deaths and 2,285 injuries), and property damage amounted to 1.4208 trillion KRW.

Compared seasonally, spring had the second highest number of fires and casualties after winter, and property damage was the highest among the four seasons at 1.4208 trillion KRW (32.9%). This appears to be due to an increase in large-scale fires at logistics warehouses and factories in recent springs.

Additionally, using the 119 Big Data Platform, fire occurrence data over the past five years was visualized and analyzed as heatmaps by day of the week and time of day. The analysis showed that fires were concentrated on Wednesdays and between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., with Wednesday at 2 p.m. being the most vulnerable time.

The causes of fires were ranked as negligence (55.6%) > electrical factors (22.2%) > mechanical factors (9.1%), with fires caused by negligence such as cigarette butts and trash burning accounting for 30,279 cases (55.6%), more than half of the total.

Accordingly, the National Fire Agency will strengthen fire prevention consulting and education at fire-vulnerable facilities such as construction sites and work sites to reduce large-scale fires and casualties in spring. It will also conduct publicity campaigns to reduce fire damage caused by negligence among visitors to glamping sites and camping grounds. At construction sites and work sites, fire watchers will be assigned to prevent fires caused by sparks during welding work, and separate fire safety education will be provided for foreign workers.

Unannounced fire safety inspections will be conducted at multi-use facilities focusing on violations of fire safety management. In addition, to eradicate unsafe practices, a reward system for reporting blocked emergency exits and fire facilities will be operated. Volunteer fire brigades will regularly visit fire-vulnerable residential areas such as jjokbangchon (small rooms) and panjachon (shantytowns), and residential vinyl houses to provide basic fire safety equipment and safety education. Fire drills will also be actively conducted to strengthen the evacuation capabilities of vulnerable evacuees in nursing homes, long-term care hospitals, and medical facilities.

Finally, regarding the main causes of spring fires such as illegal disposal of cigarette butts and unauthorized burning, crackdowns will be strengthened in cooperation with local governments. Large-scale fire prevention commander meetings will be held by each city and provincial fire headquarters to promote fire prevention policies tailored to regional characteristics.

Kwon Hyukmin, head of the Fire Prevention Division at the National Fire Agency, said, “Due to abnormal climate conditions, the dry weather in spring continues, increasing the risk of large fires and large-scale wildfires. The occurrence rate is high around lunchtime, especially fires caused by cigarette butts and careless food cooking. We ask everyone to pay special attention to fire prevention.”