More than 40 people, including nursing home residents, were injured...What's the big reason for the damage?

[Anchor]
I'll connect with an expert about this fire and take a closer look. Yeom Gun-woong, a professor of police fire administration at Yuwon University, is connected. Professor, you're out, right?

[Yum Gunwoong]
Hello,

[Anchor]
There have been no deaths so far.Forty-three people, including three seriously injured Ma, were taken to the hospital. It's a lot of damage.

[Yum Gunwoong]
Compared to the size of the accident, there is a lot of damage. First of all, the fire broke out underground, and the fire quickly went up and there was a nursing home on the fourth floor above the ground. There were a number of injured people in the nursing home. So in the end, it led to an accident in which three seriously injured people and 40 non-emergency patients occurred.

[Anchor]
As you said, most of the people who were transferred to the hospital were found to be people in nursing homes, but it was difficult to evacuate because they were a little older and difficult to move around. So there was damage. Can I look at it like this?

[Yum Gunwoong]
Maybe that's what we should assume. First of all, in the case of nursing hospitals, many patients are unable to move. So, there is no other way to evacuate than by evacuating a wheelchair or a whole bed, but it is very difficult to evacuate. In addition, since these patients themselves are unable to move, it takes a considerable amount of time to complete the evacuation. In other words, evacuation cannot take place faster than the general public. As a result, if the fire broke out underground now, smoke would have rapidly risen to the upper floors. So, it can be assumed that many people were injured here because the people who inhaled this smoke were also people in the nursing home and patients.

[Anchor]
There was a nursing home on the fourth floor and a sauna on the third floor. That's right. That's what the structure of a residential-commercial building is like, but since it's a multi-use facility, a fire will inevitably lead to great damage.

[Yum Gunwoong]
is correct. It is not yet known where the fire broke out, but the first caller reported that a fire broke out on the basement floor of the sauna.

[Anchor]
It's said that it's an underground parking lot.

[Yum Gunwoong]
That's right. YTN reported that a fire broke out on the first basement floor. So first of all, it seems certain that it's on the first basement floor. A fire broke out on the first basement floor. The fire rises rapidly from the starting point of the fire, but in the case of residential and commercial buildings, exhaust is not good. If the exhaust is not good, the initial evolution is the most important thing, so sprinklers play a very important role here in multi-use facilities. By extinguishing and extinguishing the initial fire, the inhalation of smoke is prevented, and there is a possibility that such things have not been done properly in the area of whether they have been done properly. In addition, we need to find out whether the sprinkler is turned on. And whether the evacuation was carried out properly at the nursing home when the smoke went up, and whether the measures were taken quickly. It's still not determined whether it's true or not. So, after recognizing the fire, we need to check whether the evacuation was carried out quickly. In the end, there were no deaths fortunately, but the fire was inevitable anyway in terms of the fact that three seriously injured people and 40 patients came out. Given that many of the people who were in this nursing home could not avoid the fire and inhaled a lot of smoke, there is a possibility that they missed the time to evacuate, that is, the golden time. Or there are many possibilities that the evacuation was delayed or that the evacuation itself was difficult because they were unable to move.

[Anchor]
I speculated that it might be late for those in nursing homes to evacuate. But the first floor was a mart and the third floor was a sauna. But fortunately, all of them were evacuated. Why was it possible to evacuate like this?

[Yum Gunwoong]
This is a complex building, so more than five floors were apartments. So, in the case of the fifth floor or higher, according to the crew on the scene, the fire door was closed.
So the smoke didn't go up. In other words, there was no damage on the fifth floor or higher of the apartment, and most of the people on the third floor were not patients, so the fire alarm bell probably went off while the smoke came up. If the alarm went off and the officials inside the building quickly informed us to evacuate quickly because there was a fire. In the case of ordinary people, they had enough time to evacuate as soon as possible and because the exit was close. So, it seems that there are no major deaths or injured patients over there and that they evacuated quickly.

[Anchor]
As our reporter told you earlier, it was reported that a fire broke out in the parking lot on the first basement floor. But it's confirmed that it's not an electric car, so how should I look at the possibility of fire?

[Yum Gunwoong]
If a fire broke out due to the ignition of an electric car, you saw the Cheongna fire last time. The Cheongna Fire almost burned down the underground parking lot.

[Anchor]
It says it's not an armature.

[Yum Gunwoong]
That's why I'm telling you. I'm telling you that if it was an electric car, if it was a fire caused by an electric car, the fire damage would have been much greater. So, it's highly likely that it wasn't an electric car. I believe that the fire damage was not so significant because it was not an electric car. However, of course, there is a possibility that the cause of the fire may be ignited by a defect in the vehicle in a normal vehicle. Because there was a parking lot here, it is not an electric car, but there is a possibility of ignition by a regular car. Also, among the facilities here, there is a high possibility that the ignition was caused by electrical factors. Because it is underground, there is a possibility that these electrical facilities will be shorted or wet, or there are many possibilities that wiring facilities have not been properly managed. So it seems a little more likely that the fire was caused by electrical factors. This seems to be something that the fire authorities should reveal through on-site verification.

[Anchor]
The cause of the fire needs to be identified further. As you explained, after the fire was reported, the fire department issued the first stage of response in about 20 minutes and started extinguishing it. Can we say that the
fire response was appropriate and that it was done well?

[Yum Gunwoong]
It seems to have been very appropriate. Because at 6:56, we issued the first stage of response. And the report is 6:28. Then, at 6:56, the first stage of response was issued, and if the first stage of response is issued, three to seven nearby fire departments will be put into this side to extinguish the fire. And in the case of firefighting vehicles, 31 to 50 vehicles are put in like this. So, since it is to extinguish the fire by mobilizing all the available fire resources nearby, the response level has been raised appropriately. And you can see that the fire authorities put a lot of effort into the initial suppression. Because this is a multi-use facility. Since it is a residential and commercial complex, there was a shopping mall, especially a nursing home in the case of the lower floor. So, if you miss the time to evacuate and spread the fire rapidly in a situation where there are people with difficulty moving around, it can lead to a really terrible situation. So, it seems that the fire authorities also responded very appropriately and as quickly as possible in the early stages. Fortunately, there were no deaths because the fire department responded appropriately. If this led to a bigger fire, it would have been raised to the second stage of response, but going up to the second stage of response is the first stage of response, and you can't put out the fire. Then, it will increase to the stage of mobilizing 11 fire departments from 8 in the neighboring area. Because they responded well in the early stages, it can be evaluated that they finished in the first stage of response. That's why no more victims came out, and it can be said that the initial fire was quickly extinguished, and then the lifesaving was properly carried out.

[Anchor]
Less than two hours after the fire, a big fire was put out, at around 8:15 p.m. First of all, I'm glad. Lastly, although it is a residential-commercial building, the nursing home was included in it, but there is a possibility that the nursing home building itself will catch fire in the future, so could you please summarize how to deal with this case?

[Yum Gunwoong]
First of all, in the case of patients, it is very difficult for us to evacuate using armbands, rescue teams, or emergency stairs that can be used by the general public. So, in the early stages, there is an elevator in the case of medical facilities. There is an elevator where you can evacuate separately, but if you can use the elevator, it's better to evacuate quickly with it. However, fires spread very rapidly. Also, suffocation is the highest cause of death due to full smoke, so there may be no time to evacuate to the elevator, and in the case of elevators, when a fire breaks out, the operation eventually stops. So, it is very important to have a movement line that can quickly rescue you and conduct evacuation drills. So, if you do these things properly, if it was the result of coping well in the nursing home, it can be said that there are no patients now. Because if I were to tell you an actual example, I drew The in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province last November.There was a place called Yang Hospital. However, at the time of the fire, hospital staff initially extinguished the fire by mobilizing indoor fire hydrants. So there was a time when we prevented casualties. In the end, the nursing hospital has well-equipped fire, electricity, and gas facilities, as well as evacuation routes and fire suppression equipment, and it is necessary to make sure that these things are checked regularly. And especially considering elderly patients with limited mobility, it is important that such a fire response system, such as evacuation plans and training, is systemized so that it can work well in the field.

[Anchor]
Preparation and preparation are important. If I tell you one more thing, I heard that a big fire was caught at 8:15 and that the fire department declared a complete extinguishment at 9:30 p.m. Thank God. Until now, I was Yeom Gun-woong, a professor at Yuwon University. Thank you.

[Yum Gunwoong]
Thank you.