S-Oil donates $323,000 to support Korean firefighters

S-Oil CEO Anwar Al-Hejazi, center, poses with Kim Hyun-hoon, left, chairman of the Korea National Council on Social Welfare, and Kim Seung-ryong, commissioner of the National Fire Agency, during a ceremony for the "Firefighting Heroes Guardian" program at the company's headquarters in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of S-Oil

S-Oil donated 475 million won ($323,000) to support firefighters and their families at a ceremony held Wednesday at the refiner’s headquarters in Seoul.

The company made the donation jointly with the National Fire Agency and the Korea National Council on Social Welfare as part of its “Firefighting Heroes Guardian” program. The donation will be used this year to fund the medical expenses for firefighters injured on duty, scholarships for children of fallen firefighters and prize money for the program’s awards.

At the same event, S-Oil presented its “119 Master Savers of the Year” awards to 40 paramedics recognized for helping prevent lasting injury through emergency first aid.

The company launched “Firefighting Heroes Guardian” program in 2006.

Since then, the refiner said it has provided roughly 11.2 billion won to support about 3,904 firefighters and their families through initiatives including annual awards, condolence payments to bereaved families of fallen firefighters, scholarships for their children, medical cost coverage for injured firefighters and recreational retreats for firefighter couples.

In recognition of the program, S-Oil received the KBS 119 Public Service Award at the 29th KBS 119 Awards in 2024, and CEO Anwar Al-Hejazi was appointed as an honorary firefighter.

"We are always grateful for the sacrifice and courage of firefighters who put themselves on the line at fires and accident scenes," Al-Hejazi said.

"S-Oil will continue to support firefighters through the Firefighting Heroes Guardian program."

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.