The government rolled out the 'Emergency Safety & Care Service' to protect seniors living alone, but massive controversy is brewing after an 80-year-old died because fire authorities dismissed a fire report as a malfunction and failed to deploy. Critics point out that the emergency response system failed to function when it mattered most and needs a serious overhaul.
According to Seoul Shinmun’s investigation on the 22nd, at 12:41 AM on the 6th, an emergency terminal at a house in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, detected a fire and automatically sent an SOS to the Jeonbuk 119 control center and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. An operator at the 119 center called the resident, Mr. Han (88), to confirm. Han desperately shouted, "The fire won't go out," but the operator misunderstood this to mean the light on the device wouldn't turn off and closed the case without ordering a deployment.
Four minutes later, at 12:45 AM, a Welfare Ministry official checked back with 119 to see if they had deployed, but the fire department refused to go, saying "It’s highly likely a machine malfunction." Ultimately, at 12:53 AM—12 minutes after the initial report—a neighbor reported the fire, and by the time firetrucks arrived around 1 AM, the flames had already spread significantly. When they finally suppressed the fire and entered the home at 2:09 AM, Mr. Han was found dead, consumed by the flames. The family is in tears over the fire department’s complacent response that blew multiple chances to prevent the tragedy. Han's grandson, A, told Seoul Shinmun, "We installed the service because my grandmother had trouble walking, but the authorities just dismissed her plea for help as a machine failure," adding, "We haven't even received a formal apology or explanation since." Realizing the severity too late, the Jeonbuk Fire Safety Headquarters stated, "There was a delay in deployment due to a wrong judgment during the intake process. We offer our deep apologies."
Some suggest this disaster stems from a general distrust of automatic reports and structural laziness in the field. According to Jeonbuk Fire, out of 9,271 cases reported via the emergency service from January to November this year, 5,311 (about 57.3%) were handled as "false alarms or no response." Because terminal glitches and accidental reports are so frequent, a mindset has hardened among first responders that "automatic reports = malfunctions."
"Users are absolutely fuming over the 'Show-bang' (fire department) dismissing a dying senior's plea as a 'glitch,' with many calling for the operator's head and slamming the general laziness of civil servants who treat their shifts like paid nap time."
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