The South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Fire Agency has unified its 119 emergency call system and strengthened its administrative independence as it moves forward with integration.
The agency announced Tuesday that when the South Jeolla-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City launched on July 1 — formed by the merger of Gwangju and South Jeolla Province — the Gwangju Fire and Safety Headquarters and the South Jeolla Fire and Safety Headquarters were reorganized and reestablished as the South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Fire Agency.
Although firefighters are national civil servants, the fire service falls under local government jurisdiction under the Fire Service Autonomy Act — unlike the police — so the agency was consolidated in line with the administrative reorganization.
The biggest change since the integrated agency's launch involves how 119 emergency calls are handled across jurisdictions.
Previously, the Gwangju and South Jeolla fire headquarters each responded to emergencies within their own administrative boundaries. Now those boundaries have been removed, and the nearest fire station dispatches to any call regardless of which former jurisdiction it falls in.
The two separate 119 call networks have also been linked into one, routing calls to the situation room closest to the scene and sharing dispatch information in real time.
However, to account for workload distribution and cost, each of the two existing situation rooms — one at the Gwangju regional sub-headquarters and one at the South Jeolla regional sub-headquarters in Jangheung — will be retained.
The change in response procedures has already been felt on the ground.
When a vehicle fell at an auto repair shop in Hwasun-gun on July 13, it was Gwangju's Dongbu Fire Station — the closest unit — that responded, not the South Jeolla Hwasun Fire Station that would have handled the call before integration.
A traffic accident in Nampyeong-eup, Naju on July 1 was also handled by Gwangju's Daechon Fire Station.
Integration has also elevated the agency's standing and authority as an independent administrative body.
The agency is the first in the country to operate as a directly affiliated institution of an integrated special metropolitan city, rather than as a staff department under a metropolitan government. Its chief can now directly oversee hazardous materials safety management, administrative dispositions and the execution of fire service policy.
Previously, authority over personnel, organizational management and some administrative dispositions rested with the city and provincial governors.
The integrated agency plans to consolidate personnel, organizational, budget and audit functions — previously dispersed across its sub-headquarters — directly under the chief, improving overall efficiency.
The main headquarters where the integrated agency chief will be based has not yet been determined, but the location will be chosen with effective disaster response as the primary consideration.
"By unifying the fire response system alongside the administrative merger, we are now able to mount a wide-area disaster response centered on where people actually live," an agency official said. "We will continue to strengthen public safety by maximizing the benefits of integration — from call intake and dispatch command to organizational operations."
kkm9971@heraldcorp.com
