[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Kim Gap-dong] The 'Yongin Western Fire Station,' which will address growing fire and emergency response demands in Yongin's western region, is counting down to its May opening.
Gyeonggi Province announced on the 30th that the institutional foundation for the May opening has been completed, as the amended 'Gyeonggi Province Administrative Organization and Staffing Ordinance' related to the Yongin Western Fire Station opening passed through the plenary session of the 374th Extraordinary Session of the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly on the 26th.
The ordinance addresses the increasing fire and emergency response demands in Yongin's western region and includes provisions for separating and newly establishing the Yongin Western Fire Station from the Yongin Fire Station.
The Yongin Western Fire Station will oversee Giheung-gu and Suji-gu areas and will be organized with 296 personnel, including 1 director, 3 departments, 1 division, 6 centers, and 1 rescue squad. Disaster response command capabilities in Yongin's western region are expected to be significantly strengthened.
Yongin Special City is a local government with high fire and emergency response demands due to rapid population growth and the announcement of major semiconductor belt development plans. However, compared to cities with similar population sizes such as Ulsan Metropolitan City (6 fire stations) and Gwangju Metropolitan City (5 fire stations), it has only 1 fire station. The number of residents per fire official in Yongin is 1,820, which is more than double the national average of 713, and the number of emergency calls is 72,860, ranking first nationwide.
Accordingly, Gyeonggi Province has been pursuing the establishment of the Yongin Western Fire Station since 2018. However, the originally planned fire station site was included in the 'Platform City' urban development project area, causing setbacks in its establishment. As a result, from 2021, the Yongin Fire Station only provided temporary measures by separately establishing the Second On-Scene Command Division and Second Rescue and Emergency Medical Services Division at the Suji 119 Safety Center to cover the western region.
The discussion for establishing the Yongin Western Fire Station faced a turning point when Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon issued special instructions for the early opening of the Yongin Western Fire Station at the 'Gyeonggi Province Policy Issue Review Meeting' in August of last year.
Following Governor Kim's instructions, Gyeonggi Province decided to pursue the so-called 'open first, build later' approach, prioritizing the opening of the fire station using a leased building and later undertaking the construction of a permanent headquarters. After the plan for opening first and building the headquarters later was confirmed, the province allocated a budget of 1.35 billion won for the opening of the Yongin Western Fire Station at the end of last year. The Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Headquarters leased a building in Giheung-gu in February of this year and plans to officially open the Yongin Western Fire Station in May.
Cho Seon-ho, director of the Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Headquarters, said, "With the office preparations and opening procedures in the final stages, we will complete personnel deployment in May and open the fire station, and then hold an opening ceremony with residents in June."
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