By Lee Kyung-min
A full compliance with the safety and disaster management guidelines saved patients at Severance Hospital in Shinchon, Seoul, where no casualties were reported despite a fire Saturday morning, fire authorities said Sunday. Soon after the fire started at 7:56 a.m. on the third floor of the hospital’s main building, medical staffers instructed the patients to run in the opposite direction from where the smoke began billowing. Over 300 patients were all safety evacuated. Eight people inhaled toxic gas, but remain in stable condition. Around 400 patients and caregivers evacuated returned to their rooms later.
About 270 firefighters and 80 fire extinguishing vehicles were mobilized only eight minutes after the fire incident. It was largely put out at 9:11 a.m. less than an hour after the report was filed, and the fire was completely extinguished at 9:59 a.m. Police and firefighters confirmed no one was injured by the fire. Sprinklers were in full operation with no malfunctions reported. Compartmentalizing blockades inside the building were all functional, isolating the fire area.
Such a swift and well-controlled response is in stark contrast to a similar incident at Sejong Hospital in Miryang, where a deadly fire killed 39 people and injured 151 more, two weeks ago. The high casualties in South Gyeongsang Province were attributed to suspected safety breaches and emergency guidelines violations. Fire authorities concluded that the hospital failed to maintain basic safety guidelines. Firefighters found six victims, who had been admitted to a room on the first floor, trapped inside the elevator on the ground floor, an indication that no one advised them against using the elevator in the burning building. Those seeking to evacuate are never to use an elevator, as the elevator shaft could work as a smokestack through which toxic gases and fire move upwards.
The rescue efforts were severely hampered, the authorities said, due in large part to illegal remodeling of the building in 2006. The city government imposed a 30 million won ($28,000) fine on the hospital in August 2012 for the illegally remodeling. The hospital paid the fine and has not since been subject to any additional punitive measures for not upgrading the building in accordance with safety guidelines.