Fire Casualties Can Be Reduced with Just This Measure

Essential Items Like Evacuation Guide Tapes, Door Signs, and Escape Prevention Fences
Yongin City to Provide 'Guidance Lifeline' to All Apartments

'What if a fire breaks out in an apartment and you try to evacuate to the rooftop but cannot find the door?'

One of the reasons for increasing casualties in fires in large and small multi-family housing complexes is the failure to find proper evacuation routes. In fact, during an apartment fire in Gunpo-si, Gyeonggi-do in 2020, residents mistakenly evacuated to the front of the mechanical room instead of the door leading to the rooftop and died. At that time, there were no signs indicating the rooftop entrance in the apartment, and a resident who was unfamiliar with the rooftop structure died while trying to evacuate.

Evacuation guidance tape indicating escape routes in case of fire (from left), fence to prevent deviation from evacuation routes, rooftop access door sign. [Image source=Yongin-si]

To prevent such 'man-made disasters,' Yongin City has decided to equip all apartments and elementary, middle, and high schools in the jurisdiction with an 'Evacuation Lifeline' that indicates the location of doors leading to rooftop evacuation. A city official explained on the 2nd, "This measure is the first among local governments nationwide."

The city's decision was made through the 'Yongin Special City Safety Culture Salon,' a meeting held the previous afternoon with key safety officials from Yongin, including the mayor and fire chief. Mayor Lee Sang-il accepted the proposal from Fire Chief Ahn Ki-seung, who attended the meeting, and immediately reflected it in policy.

Mayor Lee said, "The Evacuation Lifeline is a necessary measure for citizen safety," adding, "We will attach 'Fire Evacuation Door' signs on rooftop exit doors and place arrow stickers guiding to the 'Fire Evacuation Door'." He further stated, "We will secure the necessary budget of about 160 million won through the supplementary budget in the first half of the year to equip all apartments in the jurisdiction."

After the Gunpo apartment accident, Gyeonggi-do enacted the 'Ordinance on the Management and Support of Rooftop Evacuation Facilities in Multi-family Housing,' recommending the installation of evacuation guide tapes, rooftop exit door signs, and fences to prevent deviation from evacuation routes, and provides partial financial support.

However, since these are recommendations, many apartments still have not implemented such measures. In Yongin City alone, there are 812 apartment complexes with 4,840 buildings and 7,623 evacuation lines, but only 1,762 lines have evacuation guide tapes attached. This means that 5,861 places, or 76.9% of the total, have a high possibility of causing significant confusion during resident evacuation in case of fire. Rooftop exit door signs are also missing in 2,490 places, accounting for 32.7%. Moreover, only 603 places have fences installed to prevent deviation from evacuation routes to non-emergency exits such as mechanical rooms.

On the 1st, before the 'Yongin Special City Safety Culture Salon' held in the small conference room of Yongin Fire Station, the heads of attending organizations observed a moment of silence to honor the firefighters who died in the fire in Mungyeong, Gyeongbuk.
[Photo by Yongin City]

Mayor Lee decided to expand the installation target to schools after Kim Hee-jung, the superintendent of Yongin Office of Education, suggested that rooftop evacuation guidance is also necessary for 185 elementary, middle, and high schools in the region.

Fire Chief Ahn said, "Although Gyeonggi-do recommends installation through ordinances, it has been difficult due to high costs and lack of legal grounds. Thanks to Mayor Lee's bold decision, casualties in case of fire can be reduced."

Meanwhile, the 'Yongin Special City Safety Culture Salon' is a regular monthly meeting where the mayor, police chief, fire chief, and education superintendent gather to discuss citizen safety issues. Attending this meeting were Mayor Lee, Fire Chief Ahn, Superintendent Kim, Kim Kyung-jin, chief of Yongin East Police Station, Lee Jong-gil, chief of Yongin West Police Station, and officials from each institution.