Holiday Season Approaching…1 in 4 Complex Buildings in Gyeonggi Province Has 'Poor' Fire Safety Facilities

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] The Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Management Headquarters announced on the 12th that it conducted a sweeping inspection targeting the "3 major illegal acts" at 204 complex buildings including shopping malls in the province on the 7th, ahead of the Chuseok holiday break, and detected violations at 47 locations (23%).

The 3 major illegal acts refer to fire safety facility disconnection, closure or damage to evacuation and fire prevention facilities, and illegal parking.

The province's Fire and Disaster Management Headquarters took a total of 65 measures including 4 criminal referrals and 16 administrative fine dispositions.

Examining major violation cases, shopping mall A in the province had records of fire alarm equipment disconnection, shopping mall B was caught leaving fire safety facilities in a faulty condition, shopping mall C had obstacles stacked in evacuation routes, and sales facility D had defective backup power in its fire alarm equipment.

The Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Facility Installation, Maintenance and Safety Management Act (Fire Safety Facility Act) stipulates punishment of imprisonment for not more than 5 years or fines of not more than 50 million won for violations of fire safety facility closure and disconnection. Additionally, closure or damage to evacuation and fire prevention facilities results in administrative fines of not more than 3 million won.

Previously, the province's Fire and Disaster Management Headquarters had announced it would mobilize all inspection personnel to conduct sweeping inspections of the 3 major illegal acts at complex buildings including shopping malls in Gyeonggi Province where crowds gather during the Chuseok holiday break. For this inspection, 530 personnel in 204 teams from the headquarters, patrol teams at each fire station, and special fire investigation teams were mobilized.

The province's Fire and Disaster Management Headquarters conducts sweeping inspections year-round with targets determined by time period. In April, it designated a specific date and conducted sweeping inspections targeting 400 large construction sites in the province with a total floor area of 5,000㎡ or more, detecting 84 locations (21%) with issues including uninstalled temporary fire safety facilities and unauthorized hazardous material storage.

In July, it conducted sweeping inspections of 410 multi-use facilities in the province including accommodations, detecting 98 locations (23.9%) with violations and taking measures including criminal referrals.

An official from the Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Management Headquarters stated, "Going forward, we will continue conducting sweeping inspections and will strongly enforce penalties according to fire-related laws against illegal acts that threaten the safety of provincial residents."

Meanwhile, as the importance of maintaining evacuation and fire prevention facilities in buildings continues to increase, the province's Fire and Disaster Management Headquarters plans to conduct sweeping inspections of the "3 major illegal acts" reflecting building characteristics within this year.