"Just Evacuate Well..." Yongin City Develops Evacuation Guidance System for Fires

Distributed 7,686 Copies to Apartments, Officetels, Schools, etc.
Mayor Lee Sang-il Takes Immediate Action Reflecting Fire Chief's Proposal

Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province has produced evacuation guidance facilities that allow easy evacuation in case of fire and distributed them to apartments and schools in the area. This is the result of reflecting resident safety measures discussed at the 'Safety Culture Salon' meeting, attended by the mayor, fire chief, police chief, and education superintendent, into city administration.

On the 13th, Yongin City announced that it has distributed 7,686 evacuation guidance facilities nationwide for the first time, guiding evacuation to rooftops in case of fire, to 463 apartment complexes, 116 officetels, and 187 elementary, middle, and high schools in the region.

Yongin City distributed 'Route Deviation Prevention Fences' (left) and 'Rooftop Access Door Guide Signs' to apartment complexes and schools in the area to assist safe evacuation during fires.
Photo by Yongin City

The evacuation guidance facilities consist of three types: 'guide signs' indicating rooftop exit doors, 'tapes' guiding evacuation routes, and 'anti-deviation fences' preventing deviation from the routes.

This support was realized when Mayor Lee Sang-il immediately accepted the proposal of Fire Chief Ahn Ki-seung of Yongin Fire Station at the regular 'Safety Culture Salon' meeting held in February. The 'Safety Culture Salon' is a gathering of heads of institutions such as Yongin Fire Station, Yongin East and West Police Stations, and Yongin Office of Education, convened at the mayor’s suggestion to discuss ways to ensure resident safety.

At the meeting, Chief Ahn cited a fire accident at an apartment in Gunpo City in 2020 as an example and proposed the production and distribution of evacuation guidance facilities. In that fire, residents could not find the rooftop door and died in front of the closed door of the elevator machine room. Chief Ahn emphasized that installing accurate guidance signs is essential to prevent such accidents and requested city support to distribute them sequentially over three years.

In response, Mayor Lee said, "Since this is for citizen safety, there is no reason to slow down," and promised immediate budget support.

Accordingly, through a prior demand survey, the city selected a total of 766 locations, including 463 apartments and 116 officetels wishing to install evacuation guidance facilities out of 596 apartments, and 187 schools, and delivered them through Yongin Fire Station and Yongin Office of Education on the 10th.

Mayor Lee said, "Since this is a necessary measure for citizen safety, we took action to equip all apartments in Yongin with evacuation guidance facilities within three months using the disaster safety fund."

Mayor Lee expressed expectations that "the installation of rooftop evacuation guidance facilities this time will be an excellent nationwide model as a collaborative model to strengthen community safety."