In line with the summer vacation season, the Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Headquarters is promoting enhanced fire safety management for multi-use facilities such as accommodations, large markets, and movie theaters where crowds gather.

On June 20, the Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Headquarters announced that it will promote fire safety management during the summer vacation period from June 19 to August 31 for 9,350 multi-use facilities that are vulnerable to fire.

Fire safety management of these facilities will be conducted from June 19 to July 18 as a first stage of intensive management, and administrative guidance will follow from July 19 to August 31 as a second stage of ongoing management.

During the intensive management period, which runs for one month until July 18, each fire department will randomly select multi-use facilities vulnerable to fire and conduct unannounced inspections to ensure fire safety. These inspections will focus on blocked/closed firefighting facilities, blocked evacuation routes and fire prevention facilities, and other related items.

From July 19 to August 31, fire department chiefs will provide on-site administrative guidance such as fire drills and fire safety consultations.

In addition, fire departments and personnel related to vulnerable facilities will promote customized fire safety management through the Nuri Communication Network (social media) so as to provide information necessary for fire prevention, such as fire safety rules for the summer.

Out of 44,746 fires that occurred in Gyeonggi Province over the five-year period from 2018 to 2022, 10,132 took place in the summer (June to August), accounting for 22.6% of the total.

As for causes of summer fires, electrical factors were the most common with 3,685 cases (36.4%), followed by carelessness with 3,576 cases (35.3%) and mechanical factors with 1,368 cases (13.5%).

Of particular note, out of 12,886 electrical fires that occurred over the past five years, 3,685 (28.6%) occurred in the summer, surpassing the number that occurred in winter (3,602 cases, 28%) and making summer the season most prone to electrical fires. This is attributed to the increased use of electricity in summer for appliances such as air conditioners.

Hong Jang-pyo, Director of the Disaster Prevention Department at the Gyeonggi Provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters, said, “Please observe fire safety rules, such as replacing old electrical appliances prone to overheating and securing ventilation spaces around such appliances so as to prevent overheating… In line with the summer vacation season, we will strive to ensure that residents can have safe vacations with measures to prevent large-scale fires at multi-use facilities and reduce the number of fire victims.”