Should you open or close the window when there is a fire?

[Anchor]

Quick judgement of the rescue team prevented what could have been a mass casualty incident at the shopping mall fire in Ansan yesterday (Nov. 17).

When it became difficult to enter the building, they broke the windows to let out the heat and smoke first.

What should you do to minimize smoke damage when a fire occurs?

Reporter Lee Se-heum will explain.

[Report]

Only the window frames remain in the building's hallway, and broken glass pieces are scattered on the ground.

This is the aftermath of the rescue team's entry during the shopping mall fire in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do Province, early yesterday morning.

As the heat and smoke from the fire on the first floor spread upwards, making it difficult for the rescue team to enter, they broke the windows on the upper floors to let out the heat and smoke.

[Kim Dae-jung/Head of the Field Command at Ansan Fire Station: "Heat rises vertically through the hallway and stairs. Due to the dense smoke, visibility is almost zero, and it's hard to see even a step ahead."]

Thanks to the quick judgment of the rescue team, over 50 people, including guests in the lodging facilities on the 5th and 6th floors, were safely rescued.

Experts generally advise that when a fire occurs in a building, you should open the windows and close the doors.

In situations where evacuation is difficult, if smoke fills inside, the risk of suffocation increases, so you should open the windows for ventilation and request rescue.

To prevent smoke from entering, doors connected to the interior of the building must be closed, and the gaps under the doors should be sealed with wet towels or blankets.

[Lee Young-joo/Professor of Fire and Disaster Management at Kyungil University: "In lodging facilities, the doors of each room are fire doors. It may be safer to (close the door) wait for rescue inside the room."]

If a fire occurs on a lower floor and smoke enters through the window, it is advisable to open the window briefly only when requesting rescue.

This is KBS News, Lee Se-heum.