A program has been developed that lets you search the name of the apartment complex you live in and see at a glance where its rooftop access door is installed, whether it is open, and more. It is expected to be a great help in enabling residents to evacuate quickly in emergencies such as fires.
The Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Headquarters announced that it has developed the "Apartment Rooftop Access Door Information" website.
By visiting the Gyeonggi Provincial Government website or a fire station website and clicking the corresponding banner, users are taken to the rooftop access door information website. There, entering an apartment name in the search box allows users to view a total of eight pieces of information: △whether an access door is installed, △its location, △the rooftop evacuation space, △the area of the evacuation space, △the open/closed status of the access door, △whether guidance lights are installed, △the material of the rooftop access door, and △the roof type.
The creation of the website stemmed from an apartment fire in Gunpo last December. At the time, two residents who had moved to upper floors to escape the fire mistook the elevator machine room—located one floor higher than the rooftop—for the rooftop and died while trying to get out. This incident raised the need to actively make the locations of apartment rooftop access doors known.
Earlier, from October last year through February this year, the provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters conducted a nationwide-first survey of rooftop access doors, covering all 6,618 apartment complexes and 41,621 buildings in Gyeonggi Province, and released the results. The aim was to help residents living in apartments learn in advance the location of the rooftop access door of their own apartment so that they can evacuate quickly in an emergency.
With the development of the rooftop access door information website, it has become easier and more convenient to obtain rooftop access door information. The provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters is holding discussions to have banners linking to the information website posted on the websites of local cities and counties as well.
In addition, the provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters plans to produce rooftop access door promotional messages—containing information such as the location of the rooftop access door—so that apartment residents can evacuate quickly in an emergency, and to provide them to all apartment management offices in the province.
Lee Sang-gyu, head of the Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Headquarters, emphasized, "By actively disclosing the results of the apartment rooftop access door survey to residents, we expect to contribute to protecting the lives and property of the people of Gyeonggi. We ask that people familiarize themselves in advance with the rooftop access door information of the apartment they live in."
Meanwhile, of the 6,618 apartment complexes and 41,621 buildings in the province, 35,124 buildings (84.4%) have a rooftop evacuation space. Of these, the rooftop access door is located on the top floor in 19,126 buildings (54.5%) and on the floor immediately below the top floor in 15,549 buildings (44.3%). In 30 buildings, it was found to be two floors below the top floor.