Changwon Fire Headquarters: "No Basis for Budget Loss or Dispatch Delay Due to Fire Service Dualization"

The Changwon Fire Headquarters in Gyeongnam directly refuted the remarks made by Park Hae-young, a member of the Gyeongnam Provincial Assembly from the People Power Party, on the 14th.

On the 13th, Assemblyman Park pointed out many problems due to the dual structure of the Gyeongnam Fire Headquarters and the Changwon Fire Headquarters during the 3rd plenary session of the 402nd regular meeting of the Gyeongnam Provincial Assembly.

He claimed there were ▲an annual budget loss of 5 billion KRW ▲an average delay of 84.9 seconds in receiving 119 emergency calls ▲redundant investment in high-cost equipment as regional resources ▲and accumulated imbalance in personnel exchanges.

He also mentioned that a 2021 June evaluation report on the pilot operation of fire affairs in Changwon City suggested abolishing the pilot operation of the Changwon Fire Headquarters and reverting it back to the provincial level.

He urged integration into the Gyeongnam Fire Headquarters, arguing that special cities with populations over one million do not separate fire affairs due to inefficiencies in disaster response and fire force management.

Park Haeyoung, Gyeongnam Provincial Councilor (left), and Kim Yongjin, Chief of Changwon Fire Headquarters. [Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Council, Changwon Special City Hall]

Kim Yong-jin, head of the Changwon Fire Headquarters, said, “After reviewing the annual dispatch command time status of the Changwon Headquarters, the average time from call receipt to dispatch command is 64.36 seconds,” adding, “I do not know on what basis the average time of 84.9 seconds due to transferring calls to the Gyeongnam Headquarters situation room is calculated.”

He explained, “With the nationalization of fire service personnel, on-site response beyond jurisdictional areas has expanded, so fire stations in adjacent cities and provinces respond rather than just the jurisdictional station,” and “dispatch teams closer to the scene and those from the jurisdictional station simultaneously respond for rapid action.”

Kim said, “The total budget for the situation room of the Gyeongnam Headquarters in this year’s main budget is 5.68 billion KRW, and the total for the Changwon Headquarters is 2.09 billion KRW,” adding, “The figure of 5 billion KRW due to redundant investment cannot be true.”

He added, “Even if the Changwon Headquarters belongs to Gyeongnam Province, there is no redundant investment in equipment that must naturally be possessed, and operating a 119 call reception desk in the Changwon area is necessary.”

He also said, “The 70-meter aerial ladder truck, claimed to be an expensive piece of regional equipment, is a 50-50 matching project between the fire safety grant special demand and local government funds,” and “Since high-rise buildings in Gyeongnam are concentrated in Changwon, it was selected by the Fire Agency and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety based on regional needs and effectiveness.”

He emphasized that the unmanned destructive water tower truck and explosion-proof chemical vehicle are also equipment to respond to the large-scale logistics complexes in the Changwon industrial complex and the New Port.

Regarding the evaluation results, he said that in a related legal lawsuit, the court ruled in November last year that Changwon City holds the legal authority over fire affairs, and thus it is appropriate to operate it as a normal headquarters.

“Unlike other special cities, Changwon City autonomously integrated the three cities of Masan, Changwon, and Jinhae and was legally granted the special right to perform regional fire affairs,” he said, adding, “There were differences in population, area, and number of fire stations compared to other special cities, and Gyeonggi Province already has two headquarters, which reduced efficiency.”

Kim said, “The only reason the Changwon Fire Headquarters is not recognized as an official fire headquarters is the Fire Agency’s claim that it is a basic local government,” and “Changwon City performs fire affairs according to laws enacted by the National Assembly, and since legal authority has been confirmed by court rulings, we will continue to cooperate with the Gyeongnam Headquarters and the residents and citizens for safety.”