On the morning of the 14th, a fire broke out in the operating room of Chosun University Hospital in Donggu, Gwangju, and firefighters are taking safety measures. Photo by Gwangju Dongbu Fire Station
A fire broke out in the operating room of Chosun University Hospital, a major general hospital in Gwangju, due to an electrical power supply device, prompting fire authorities to investigate the cause. Authorities are considering the possibility that the fire originated from electrical factors, which are often cited as the main cause of such incidents.
According to the Gwangju Fire Headquarters and other sources, at around 8:12 a.m. on the 14th, a fire occurred in Operating Room No. 7 on the third floor of the new building at Chosun University Hospital in Hakdong, Donggu. The fire is believed to have started from the electrical power supply device inside the operating room.
This device, referred to as a "medical multi-outlet," is installed in a rectangular pillar shape and is designed to connect the power supply for various medical devices used in the operating room.
The device is equipped with a total of 24 outlets?each of its four sides has two 110V sockets and four 220V sockets, making six sockets per side.
Authorities have determined that, at the time of the fire, some medical devices were connected to this device.
However, the exact types of devices and the scale of their usage have not been confirmed.
Since the fire started from the power supply device, authorities are considering the possibility that the fire was caused by electrical factors.
Among the possible electrical causes, they plan to determine the exact cause of the fire, such as a short circuit, electrical overload, or wiring fault.
In fact, a significant number of fires that have occurred over the past ten years have been attributed to carelessness or electrical causes.
According to the Fire Statistics Yearbook published by the National Fire Agency, out of a total of 405,977 fires over the past ten years from 2015 to last year, 96,901 cases (23.9%) were caused by electrical factors. This was the second most common cause, following carelessness, which accounted for 200,931 cases (49.5%).
Last year, there were a total of 168 fires at medical facilities. These incidents resulted in seven injuries and property damage estimated at 1,214,000,000 KRW.
The fire on this day was extinguished internally by medical staff using fire extinguishers in about ten minutes.
During this process, 35 medical staff members inhaled smoke, and some are receiving oxygen therapy, but none are reported to be in life-threatening condition.
In addition, 40 people?including patients and medical staff in the same building?evacuated on their own.
At the time of the fire, fire safety systems such as emergency alarms were operating normally, but there were no sprinklers installed.
Sprinklers are not mandatory in operating rooms, as water damage from their activation could be more severe than fire damage.
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