Residents near the Eunma Apartment in Gangnam, where a recent fire resulted in four casualties including a 17-year-old, are expressing heightened concerns about the fire risks associated with aging infrastructure.
The tragic fire at the Eunma Apartment in Daechi-dong, which resulted in the death of a 17-year-old and three other injuries, has sparked an investigation by the police into potential electrical causes such as short-circuits. Residents are voicing their fears regarding the vulnerabilities associated with older buildings, specifically emphasizing the apartment's age of nearly 50 years and the safety hazards posed by outdated wiring. There were no gas connections or cooking appliances in the unit where the fire started, suggesting that the electrical wiring may be a significant factor leading to the incident.
Residents of Eunma Apartment, built in 1979, are increasingly worried about the building's fire risk, citing issues like outdated electrical systems that have not been upgraded to meet current safety standards. Some residents have reported flickering lights when high-power appliances like air conditioners are used, which raises alarms about possible electrical overloads. The presence of rodents affecting wiring is also a concern among the residents, indicating an urgent need for renovations and safety upgrades to prevent future tragedies.
Experts emphasize the need to adapt current safety standards to older apartments that were built before modern regulations, underscoring the pressing challenge posed by aging residential infrastructure in South Korea. Proposals include utilizing maintenance funds to update wiring and install modern safety features, such as sprinklers, which were notably absent in the Eunma Apartment, further highlighting the inadequacies of the building's safety systems that contributed to the fire’s severity.
