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A rice paddy set on fire by members of the North Gyeongsang Provincial Council. (Photo courtesy of the firefighters union of the North Gyeongsang branch of the Confederation of Korean Government Employees' Unions) |
Members of the North Gyeongsang Provincial Council have come under fire for deliberately setting a rice paddy on fire, with the purpose of checking how fast firefighters would arrive on the scene.
According to the local Yonhap News Agency, members of the North Gyeongsang Provincial Council's construction and firefighting committee set the field on fire at 3:40 p.m. on Nov. 18, in Sangju city, North Gyeongsang Province. A man who called the 119 emergency hotline to report the fire turned out to be a council employee.
Two firetrucks arrived on the scene, one of them within eight minutes after receiving the report. The firefighters put out the small fire in less than 20 seconds.
The council members commended the firefighters for promptly arriving on the scene, before leaving the area in a car.
The committee later said that they planned the impromptu inspection after finishing an administrative audit of the Sangju Fire Station.
The firefighters’ labor union complained to the provincial council, saying it was an abuse of power as well as unnecessary since fire stations in the area already conduct regular training.
