[Weekly File] Who Is Responsible for the Damaged Front Door During Rescue?

Gwangju Bukbu Firefighters Break Down Doors During Rescue Search
Villa Owner Deceased, No Fire Insurance Coverage
Residents Request About 5 Million Won in Repair Compensation from Fire Department
Gwangju City: "Loss Compensation Committee C

Gwangju City Hall building exterior.

Recently, the Gwangju Bukbu Fire Station found itself in a difficult situation after being required to compensate for the front doors and door locks they damaged while searching for people to rescue during a fire at a villa. The owner of the villa where the fire broke out had died, there was no fire insurance, and the damage caused by lawful actions could not be compensated through administrative liability insurance.

After news of the incident spread, the Gwangju City government immediately stepped in to provide administrative support such as compensation, but there are growing calls to revise the compensation system to prevent firefighting activities from being discouraged.

◇ How did the controversy over fire department liability begin?

According to the Gwangju Fire Department and others on the 28th, a fire broke out on the second floor of a four-story villa in Sinan-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju, on the morning of the 11th last month. The scene was filled with black smoke, and firefighters who began extinguishing the fire and searching for people knocked on each apartment’s front door to evacuate residents.

However, there was no response from the villas on the 2nd to 4th floors, so the firefighters forcibly opened the front doors of six households. In the process, the front doors and door locks of six households were damaged, resulting in property damage of about 5 million won.

Normally, damages from a fire are compensated through the fire insurance of the household where the fire started. However, in this case, the owner of the household where the fire broke out had died, making it impossible to hold anyone responsible for compensation. The affected households also did not have separate fire insurance, so they are unable to receive compensation.

Compensation through administrative liability insurance only applies to mistakes or illegal acts by firefighters, so in this case, compensation could not be provided.

◇ Gwangju City: "Firefighters should not worry about compensation... Administration will take responsibility"

After the incident became known, Gwangju City decided to take administrative responsibility, including reviewing the cost of replacing the damaged doors through the Loss Compensation Review Committee.

On the 24th, Mayor Kang Gijung stated on his social media, "Firefighters who run into burning buildings should not have to worry about compensation," and "The same goes for residents’ unavoidable damages. The administration will take responsibility."

The Gwangju Fire Department has a budget of 10 million won set aside to cover property damage that occurs during firefighting activities, but there was concern that using nearly half of it for repairs would be excessive, putting them in a difficult position.

Therefore, Gwangju City has decided to accept the requests from residents who have no way to be compensated for their damaged front doors and will cover the repair costs through the loss compensation system.

◇ Urgent need to improve the loss compensation system for proactive firefighting activities

The National Fire Agency handles property damage caused by lawful firefighting activities through loss compensation, and damage caused by firefighter negligence through liability compensation.

In the past three years, there have been 266 cases of loss compensation paid, totaling 230.19 million won. By year: 64 cases (43.12 million won) in 2022, 104 cases (86.48 million won) in 2023, and 98 cases (about 100 million won) last year, with the number steadily increasing each year.

Loss compensation is a system provided under the Framework Act on Fire Services for property damage that inevitably occurs during legitimate firefighting activities. Most claims are for damage to front doors and door locks caused by forced entry, with an average of about 700,000 won paid per claim. To receive loss compensation, the affected party must request compensation from the fire department, after which the Loss Compensation Review Committee decides whether to approve the payment.

However, as in the recent Gwangju case, when the person responsible for the incident has died, there are limited ways for affected residents to receive compensation. In Gwangju, there were no loss compensation claims filed in the three years from 2022 to 2024, and the allocated budget was returned unused each year.

On the 25th, Commissioner Heo Seokgon of the National Fire Agency stated at the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee meeting, "Loss compensation is provided through proper budget allocation, and if insufficient, reserve funds can be used so that the fire department can fully compensate. According to the Framework Act on Fire Services, proper compensation must be provided for losses caused by lawful firefighting activities, and city and provincial governments allocate a certain amount in their budgets. I have confirmed that Gwangju has allocated 10 million won."

A fire department official commented, "Even though fires can easily spread to surrounding areas or cause major explosions, the loss compensation budget is only 10 million won, which is far from enough. It is questionable whether we can carry out proactive rescue activities under these circumstances," and added, "Even after legal grounds were established for the forced removal of illegally parked vehicles, in reality, the burden of compensation has prevented us from actually carrying it out."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.