Lax certification by Interior Ministry for battery-specific fire extinguishers

[Anchor]

As electric vehicle fires continue to occur, awareness of battery fires has increased.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has certified equipment for extinguishing these battery fires, naming it a battery-specific fire extinguisher.

However, there were contradictions in this certification.

Reporter Choi Hye-rim will explain.

[Report]

Flames are fiercely rising from the battery.

As a special extinguishing device sprays the agent, the flames are quickly subdued along with white smoke.

This is the 'battery-specific fire extinguisher' that received disaster safety certification from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety last year.

Disaster safety certification is a system in which the Interior Ministry assesses products used in disaster situations to determine their suitability.

This is a fire extinguishing product installed at the electric vehicle charging station in the National Assembly.

Having received disaster safety certification, it has been deployed in various government agencies under the name of a fire extinguisher.

However, this product is not classified as a fire extinguisher under the law.

According to current law, fire extinguishers must receive formal certification from an agency under the National Fire Agency.

The battery-specific fire extinguisher has not yet received formal certification due to the lack of standards, but the Ministry has labeled it as a fire extinguisher.

There were no fire safety experts among the evaluators who participated in the certification.

[Kim Sung-hoi/Member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee/Democratic Party: "While the Ministry of the Interior and Safety is a disaster safety certification agency, it is essential to consult fire safety experts when it comes to matters related to firefighting."]

As this issue became controversial, the Ministry changed the name of the product from fire extinguisher to fire extinguishing product after a re-evaluation.

The Ministry stated, "There were contradictions in the certification at that time," and announced that it would add consultations with relevant agencies, including the National Fire Agency, to the certification process.

This is KBS News, Choi Hye-rim.