'Electric Vehicle Fire' as a Trigger... National Fire Agency Investigates Fire Safety Facilities in Apartment Underground Parking Lots

Intensive Inspection of Fire Facilities Including Sprinklers
10% of Underground Parking Lots in Nationwide Apartments with Installed Equipment Surveyed... Selected Considering Aging and Other Factors

Following a recent electric vehicle fire in an underground parking lot of an apartment complex in Incheon, where the sprinkler system failed to operate and the damage spread, a fire safety investigation of fire protection facilities in apartment underground parking lots will be conducted.

On the 21st, the National Fire Agency announced that from today until November 20, a three-month period, they will focus on verifying the closure or blockage of fire protection facilities such as sprinkler systems in apartment underground parking lots and thoroughly inspect whether proper self-inspections were conducted in the first half of the year.

Before the full-scale investigation, more than 30 people including fire safety investigation team leaders from fire headquarters across the country and officials from the Fire Facility Management Association gathered the previous day to review the progress of fire safety investigations in apartment underground parking lots by region and discuss the investigation targets, methods, and duration.

The investigation target was set at 10% of apartment underground parking lots nationwide equipped with sprinkler systems. Each regional fire headquarters will prioritize selecting apartments with relatively higher fire risk, considering factors such as the aging of fire facilities and the size of the underground parking lot.

The main points of verification include ▲inspection of major fire protection facilities such as sprinkler systems in apartment underground parking lots ▲checking their operation and maintenance status ▲and confirming the appropriateness of the apartment’s self-inspection in the first half of the year.

Additionally, a 'Checklist for Safety Facilities in Apartment Electric Vehicle Charging Zones' will be distributed to fire safety managers and related personnel. Fire safety consulting on inspection methods, a campaign to establish evacuation plans using the mobile app 'Apartment-i', inspections of evacuation facilities and their usage methods, and promotion of evacuation plans including emergency broadcasting equipment will also be conducted.

Park Seong-yeol, Director General of Fire Prevention at the National Fire Agency, stated, "Through this fire safety investigation, we ask that fire protection facilities in apartment underground parking lots nationwide be thoroughly inspected so that the public can feel more secure."