Despite Repeated Fires, Closely Packed Structures and Useless Fire Facilities

[Anchor]

Fires have broken out multiple times before in Guryong Village. Many makeshift buildings are constructed with highly flammable wooden plywood and are packed closely together, making them vulnerable to fires. Furthermore, there were not even enough fire hydrants in the village to secure water for extinguishing fires.

Reporter Lee Tae-gwon inspected the site.

[Reporter]

Guryong Village, an unauthorized shanty town that formed as displaced residents gathered starting in the 1970s due to the development of the Gangnam area in Seoul, was once home to some 1,100 households. However, following its designation as an urban development zone in 2016, relocation has been underway, leaving only 169 households remaining today.

In this unauthorized shanty town, large and small fires have continued without interruption from 2014 to early this year.

The buildings in the village are packed so closely together that a single person can barely squeeze through.

Most of them are made of easily combustible materials such as wooden plywood or cotton bundles, and with LPG gas cylinders present as well, they remain vulnerable to fires.

Following a fire in January, the Seoul Metropolitan Government distributed fire extinguishers and fire detectors to each household, but critics point out that they are rendered useless because many houses are vacant.

[Seo Gwang-ryeol / Guryong Village Resident: There are so many empty houses now. So there aren't many households actually living here anymore. Right next door are vinyl and things like blankets, so if a fire catches, there's no way to put it out....]

As an alternative, the fire authorities even planned to install automatic spreading fire extinguishers in each household that detect fires and spray fire-suppressing agents from the ceiling.

However, the plan was ultimately scrapped because the buildings themselves are subject to demolition and it is difficult to install them on the ceilings of makeshift structures.

Firefighting infrastructure is also vulnerable.

During this fire as well, firefighters experienced difficulties in putting out the fire due to a shortage of firefighting water, and fire engines were unable to enter the narrow alleys, making initial suppression a struggle.

[Lee Young-joo / Professor, Department of Fire Protection Engineering, Kyungil University: The buildings themselves are illegal, so there is no way they followed facility standards related to firefighting equipment or fire safety. Managing the factors that could cause fires a bit more actively from a management perspective would probably be the realistic approach at least.]

As fires are likely to repeat amid poor firefighting facilities and environments, experts advise that tailored measures for fire-vulnerable areas in unauthorized villages, such as securing minimum firefighting roads, must be established.

(Video Reported by Hangyul, Video Edited by So Ji-hye, Graphics by Dayoung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.