Volunteer Firefighters

[Anchor Lead]

Old facilities and cramped layouts could cause a fire to potentially devastate a traditional market. The Jeonnam Fire Service launched the nation's first volunteer firefighting squad comprised entirely of market merchants.

[Pkg]

A fish market in Yeosu, Jeollanam-do Province. Flames erupt at a store inside the market. The flames spread to nearby stores in an instant, destroying 58 stores and causing more than 500 million won in damage. Last year alone, there were 54 fires at traditional markets nationwide. Fire in a traditional market tends to cause extensive damage since facilities are old and stores are cramped together. The Jeonnam Fire Service has organized the nation's first volunteer firefighting squad at 18 traditional markets in the province. These firefighters are market merchants, who patrol the markets from 10 PM to early morning hours when fires are prone to start. They report their findings to the supervising fire stations.

[Soundbite] Han Gil-ju(Pres. Mokpo Cheongho Market Merchants' Assn.) : "We protect our market ourselves. We'll do our best to prevent fires and reduce damage by responding to fires promptly."

The fire stations help train these volunteer firefighters in evacuation maneuvers and early fire extinguishing tactics. The Jeonnam Fire Service will assess the results of this pilot program before instituting volunteer firefighting squads in all traditional markets within the province.