Jeonbuk Fire Department and Fire Insurance Association Joint Campaign for Traditional Market Safety Culture

Fire Extinguisher Donation and Fire Facility Inspection at Jeonju Jungang Shopping District

The Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province Fire Headquarters (Chief Lee Osuk) announced that on the afternoon of the 12th, ahead of the Chuseok holiday, it conducted a traditional market safety culture campaign in cooperation with the National Fire Insurance Association at Jeonju Central Shopping District.

According to Jeonbuk Fire Headquarters, this 'Traditional Market Safety Culture Campaign' was promoted as a follow-up measure to the 'Disaster Prevention and Safety Culture Expansion Memorandum of Understanding' signed last May by related organizations including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the National Fire Agency, 12 non-life insurance companies, and the Korea Fire Insurance Association.

On the afternoon of the 12th, Jeonbuk Fire Department and the National Fire Insurance Association jointly conducted a 'Traditional Market Safety Culture Campaign' at Jeonju Jungang Shopping District.
[Photo by Jeonbuk Fire Department]

The campaign was attended by Park Jongseo, President of the Jeonju Central Shopping District Merchants Association; Lee Osuk, Chief of Jeonbuk Fire Headquarters; Kim Donggyu, Head of Management Support Division of the Korea Fire Insurance Association; and Hong Cheolui, Head of the Gwangju and Honam Regional Headquarters. Activities included a fire extinguisher donation ceremony and safety inspections of firefighting facilities such as sprinklers.

In particular, through on-site campaigns at each store, they checked whether power to cooling devices like fans was turned off and whether octopus-style power strips were in use, urging merchants to voluntarily manage safety to prevent fires.

Traditional markets have many densely packed stores and large quantities of flammable goods stored, which can easily lead to large-scale fires in case of ignition. For example, at around 11 p.m. on January 22 this year, a fire at Seocheon Market in Seocheon County, Chungnam Province, burned 227 stores, causing property damage amounting to 6.5 billion won.

Although fire stations regularly conduct safety inspections, prevention education, and firefighting training to prevent fires in traditional markets, the efforts of fire stations alone have limitations, making the interest and practice of related parties more important than anything else.

Chief Lee Osuk of the Fire Headquarters stated, "This campaign will help create a fire prevention environment within the market and serve as an opportunity to raise safety awareness and interest among merchants and residents visiting the market," adding, "Let us create a safe market free from fires and safety accidents through active firefighting safety management activities."