Korea suffered many casualties due to the fire in a complex building in Jecheon, Chungcheongbuk-do on December 21, 2017 and to the hospital fire in Milyang, Gyeongsangnam-do on January 26, 2018. Throughout the country, there are currently piloti-type buildings with Dryvit methods as well as hospitals lacking sprinkler facilities. In other considerations, the buildings are becoming taller and more complicated, and the structures are becoming increasingly diverse, resulting in diversification of types of building fires. Special structures and facilities to which traditional building fire countermeasures will not be effective are continuing to increase, including super-high-rises with more than a hundred floors, super-extended tunnels with lengths over 10km, etc.
Additionally, significant property damage results by insufficient initial response on the part of the facility manager at an oil service station fire in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do on October 7, 2018. In disasters such as this where the damage is spread over a wide area, the need for initial response by self-maintained local fire services prior to the arrival of the official fire department is becoming more prominent.
However, existing law lacks particular provisions regarding the installation, management, education and training of self-maintained local fire services, making it difficult to secure the initial response capabilities fitting to the purpose of the installation of such self-maintained fire services. Therefore, since self-maintained fire services perform the same function as the official fire department in terms of initial response to fires, there is a need for them to receive certain education/training regularly and to carry out their performances at the scenes according to a site safety management manual.
At the same time, the Framework Act on Fire-Fighting Services provides comprehensive provisions for fire-fighting services, and related legislation is divided according to their function, reflecting connectivity among acts such as the Act on 119 Rescue and Emergency Medical Services, the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Volunteer Fire Brigade, and the Fire-Fighting Industry Promotion Act. This raises the need for an independent Act on fire response activities, reflecting the importance and changed values of such activities.
This proposal therefore seeks to substantiate people’s safety from fire and pursuit of happiness by establishing a designated site response system that can reduce the damage of unpredictable, big and complex fires through legislating an Act on Fire Response, enabling the efficient and systematic response to fires, rescue and medical aid at the scene.

Details

A. The purpose of this Act is to protect people’s lives and property through effective fire response activities at fire scenes, contributing to public safety and an improved quality of life. (Article 1)
B. Define installation/management of water for extinguishing fires, as well as securing of passage for fire vehicles and emergency passage of fire squad to improve access to fire scenes (Articles 4 through 11)
C. For the establishment of a chain of command at fire scenes, clarify the command responsibilities of the site commander and duties of the fire-fighting leader (Articles 13, 14)
D. For smooth fire response activities at the scene, enhance authorities on compulsory measures and evacuation orders, and enable emergency measures for risk facilities (Articles 21 through 24)
F. Define research and development of fire response techniques as a duty of the Administrator of the National Fire Agency, provide a basis for national subsidy on research/development, and provide a basis for requesting expert data required for fire research to relevant institution/organization in the related field (Article 25)
G. Require the heads of the management institution of National Facilities, etc., to install and manage self-maintained fire services to deal with on-site response activities including fire response, rescue and medical measures at the facilities (Article 29)
H. Define required provisions for the education process, certification test types and standards for a fire responder (Article 38)

No entity is allowed to do any of the following activities below (Article 5).
No vehicle or person shall inhibit the movement of fire vehicles when they are deployed for fire-fighting, rescue and medical activities (Article 7)
Drivers subject to Article 2, subparagraph 17 of the Road Traffic Act, in accordance with paragraph 2, shall not park their vehicles in designated fire vehicle passage areas (Article 8)
Project owners of multi-family houses under Article 2, paragraph 2, subparagraph 2 of the Building Act (with the exception of buildings in commercial areas sharing housing and non-housing facilities in the same building) that have been designated by Presidential Decree shall install fire vehicle designated areas at the multi-family houses to enable seamless execution of fire-fighting activities (Article 10)