According to the firefighters’ labor union on the 27th, a report was received at the 119 situation room at around 3:40 p.m. on the 18th that a fire had broken out in a rice field in Hwasan-dong, Sangju. The man who reported it explained to 119 at the time, “There was smoke coming from the rice field ridge across the road.”
The fire department dispatched two large pump trucks to the scene, and one of them arrived within 8 minutes. At the site, straw and other weeds were burning in a relatively small area.
This ember was lit by members of the Construction and Fire Protection Committee of the Provincial Council who completed an administrative audit of the Sangju Fire Station during the day. It was confirmed that the smoke was caused by them setting fire to wet straw bales.
Provincial lawmakers who saw the firefighters extinguishing the fire reportedly praised them, saying, “They arrived quickly and did a good job of extinguishing the fire.” It was confirmed that the fire report was also made by an official belonging to the Construction and Fire Commission.
It is said that they did this to check the firefighting preparedness. Earlier this year, when extinguishing a house fire in Yeongyang-gun, there was a case where the fire truck dispatched was completely burned down because the firefighting water was not flowing properly. It is said that a part of the house was set on fire to directly confirm this.
The firefighters’ union pointed out that although no other fires occurred at the time, false reports could lead to a vacuum and waste of firefighting power. The fall forest fire prevention period is until the 15th of next month.
Kim Joo-cheol, chairman of the Gyeongbuk Committee of the Civil Service Labor Union who loves firefighting, protested, saying, “It is an abuse of power (by provincial council members),” and “Firefighting is conducting separate training, including regular training and unexpected dispatch training.”
Regarding this, Park Soon-beom, Chairman of the Construction and Fire Protection Committee of the Provincial Council, said, “It was an on-site inspection conducted to promote the safety and protect the lives of local residents.” He added, “If there were any inconveniences during the inspection process, we will supplement them and inspect them in the future.”
https://n.news.naver.com/article/032/0003335127?cds=news_edit