At 1:30 PM on the 14th, Busan Fire and Disaster Headquarters, led by Mayor Park... Department and Headquarters Chiefs, Disaster Prevention and Battery Experts
City and Related Agencies Review and Discuss Safety Management Measures and Response Plans for Electric Vehicle Fires and Other Issues
The city of Busan will hold an electric vehicle safety status check meeting at 1:30 p.m. on the 14th at the Busan Fire & Disaster Headquarters, presided over by Mayor Park Hyungjoon.
This meeting was organized to review countermeasures by each agency, following the electric vehicle fire accident that occurred on August 1 in the underground parking lot of an apartment complex in Cheongna-dong, Seo-gu, Incheon. The city determined that a similar accident could occur in Busan as well.
In addition to Mayor Park, the meeting will be attended by directors from the Citizen Safety Office, Environmental Water Policy Office, Housing and Architecture Bureau, Transportation Innovation Bureau, Advanced Industry Bureau, and the spokesperson, as well as the head of the Busan Fire & Disaster Headquarters and private experts in disaster prevention and battery fields. They will review the current status and response measures for electric vehicle fire safety management in each sector and discuss future plans.
Prior to this meeting, the city held three preliminary review meetings chaired by the Deputy Mayor for Administrative Affairs from the early stages of the Incheon electric vehicle fire accident, to monitor the progress of the incident and the city's related status, and to proactively establish necessary countermeasures and manage the situation.
In particular, Mayor Park plans to comprehensively review five countermeasures prepared by the city and related agencies: securing golden time for emergency response and expanding firefighting equipment, distributing fire-prevention type chargers, revising ordinances supporting electric vehicles, improving and supporting multi-family housing, and forming and operating a dedicated response task force (TF).
The city will also promote facility improvements and other measures so that the newly established countermeasures, as well as sector-specific safety checks and education/publicity on action guidelines, can be effectively integrated into public sectors such as buses, subways, and public parking lots, ensuring thorough public safety.
Immediately after the meeting, participants will hold a demonstration of fire suppression in a simulated electric vehicle fire scenario at the training ground on the first floor of the Busan Fire & Disaster Headquarters.
The demonstration will simulate an electric vehicle fire in a basement, with step-by-step scenarios: initial stage?blocking fire spread using a fire-suffocating blanket; spread stage?massive water discharge using a mobile self-supporting water monitor; suppression stage?immersion of the vehicle using a mobile water tank. This will showcase realistic fire suppression techniques.
Mayor Park Hyungjoon emphasized, "In the case of electric vehicle fires, there is a risk of rapid fire spread due to thermal runaway, so quick response and effective suppression are of utmost importance. Through this meeting, our city will review the overall management of electric vehicle safety, supplement and improve any shortcomings, and continue to make every effort for proactive prevention and response to electric vehicle fires, thereby continuously enhancing urban safety."
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