7 out of 10 apartment fire deaths are caused by smoke inhalation

As more and more people in South Korea live in apartments, concerns over apartment fires have been increasing due to a series of fires. In the last five years, smoke inhalation was the cause of death in more than 70 percent of apartment fire deaths. About half of the fires were caused by carelessness related to cooking food, cigarette butts, etc.

According to the National Fire Agency on Thursday, there were 14,112 apartment fires from 2019 through 2023. Last year saw the highest number in the last five years, with 2,993 fires. In the past five years, 1,781 people were killed or injured in apartment fires (174 deaths and 1,607 injuries), accounting for 14.7 percent of the total number of fire casualties of 12,072 people during the same period.

The leading cause of death was smoke inhalation, including toxic gases. Deaths caused by smoke inhalation stood at 124, accounting for 71.2 percent of the total. Fourteen deaths were caused by burns (8 percent), followed by falls, such as jumping out the window, which led to 11 deaths (6.3 percent).

The summer months (June through August) saw the highest number of fires at 4,018 cases (28.5 percent), while the winter months (December through February) accounted for 3,555 fires (25.2 percent). This is likely due to the increased use of air conditioners and other cooling devices during the summer months and the increased risk of overheating various devices due to the heat wave. Regarding the causes of fires, carelessness accounted for 6,979 cases (49.5 percent). The largest number of fires occurred while cooking food, followed by cigarette butts, and embers left unattended.

Fires rarely spread to other floors in apartments. Still, people often suffer from smoke inhalation during evacuation, so it’s important to stay indoors and prevent smoke from entering through windows, rather than evacuating unconditionally. “If you don’t know the floor or scale of the fire, you should check the fire situation first rather than evacuate,” an official from the National Fire Agency said.


이채완 기자 chaewani@donga.com