The series of devastating fires, including the battery factory fire in Hwaseong, the pyrolysis oil factory fire in Gyeongju's Geoncheon Industrial Complex, the explosion at Hanwha Aerospace's Daejeon plant, and the past Sealand Youth Training Center fire during summer recreation activities, are disasters born from the combination of aging facilities and combustible materials. 

The existing firefighting system shows limitations in initial response and preventing rapid spread. There is an urgent need to strengthen the fundamental safety net in industrial sites and introduce AI-based disaster prediction systems.

Modern fires spread at an unprecedented speed due to combustible building materials and complex spatial structures. It is now difficult to fully protect people's lives and property with post-response firefighting facilities based on wired systems. This is precisely why we must stake our survival on the convergence of cutting-edge technologies integrating "wireless" and "AI."

1. Warning Signs Indicated by Summer Fire Statistics

Looking at the annual fire statistics from the National Fire Agency, fires during the summer months (June-August) are as frequent and deadly as those in winter. Notably, over 40% of summer fires are caused by 'electrical factors.' Common examples include overheating and overloading of cooling appliances (air conditioner outdoor units, fans) due to heatwaves, and leakage and tracking phenomena (current flowing along the surface of an insulator, causing ignition) during the humid monsoon season.

The increasingly common battery thermal runaway phenomenon in electric vehicle charging facilities and energy storage systems (ESS) is a new risk factor that is also concentrated in the summer. Furthermore, 'spontaneous combustion,' where materials in resource recycling facilities or chemical plants generate heat within themselves under high humidity and temperature, is also considered a major type of summer fire.

2. The Advantages of 'Wireless Firefighting' Beyond Wired Limitations

Existing wired firefighting systems have a critical weakness: the automatic fire detection system becomes inoperable if the wires are severed or short-circuited, or if the wiring is lost in the early stages of a fire. If the signal is lost, alarms and initial suppression equipment cannot operate. In contrast, wireless firefighting technology goes beyond ease of installation by instantly transmitting signals through multiple paths simultaneously with the outbreak of a fire, thereby reducing false alarms and maximizing reliability.

Wireless systems are an optimal solution for 'rapid safety net construction without wiring work,' especially for aging buildings requiring urgent fire safety upgrades, traditional markets difficult for fire trucks to access, and large warehouses where wiring construction is challenging. With the stability of digital signals now secured, wireless technology is an essential survival technology for firefighting.

3. AI-Based Fire Prediction System for Moving from Reactive to Predictive Response

The era of simply detecting smoke or heat to alarm about an already large fire is over. Today's AI firefighting technology learns and analyzes subtle thermal imaging data, gas components, and environmental changes within a space in real-time.

AI detects complex 'abnormal signs' in the pre-fire stage and sends real-time forecasts to managers. If a fire does occur, it predicts the spread path in milliseconds based on accumulated internal data.

This allows for guiding occupants within buildings to the optimal evacuation routes and sharing real-time suppression points and internal hazard information with firefighters responding to the scene. The global market (NASDAQ) has begun to pay attention to K-firefighting technology, including AI-based detectors and 'fire prediction systems.'

4. Three Key Technologies for Summer Fire Prevention

To fundamentally prevent the unique fire risks of summer, comprehensive prevention measures integrating systems and technology must be applied on-site.

▲ Intelligent Real-time Current and Temperature Monitoring

Real-time monitoring systems should be introduced in the distribution boards of commercial and industrial facilities with high cooling loads and in electric vehicle charging facilities to detect and prevent current leakage and wire overheating in advance.

▲ Expanded Wireless Pre-Inspection for Multi-Use Facilities

A major transition to proven reliable wireless fire interlocking systems should be considered and mandated to address issues of malfunctioning wired detectors and signal loss due to high humidity during the monsoon season.

▲ Introduction of AI-Based Spontaneous Combustion Prediction System

AI thermal imaging analysis cameras should be deployed in sites handling materials prone to spontaneous combustion, such as resource recycling facilities or insulation factories, to detect early heat generation deep within materials that is invisible to the naked eye.

5. The Direction of Innovation to Break Through the Barriers of Outdated Systems and Legislation Lagging Behind Technology

Our fire safety regulations and National Fire Safety Standards (NFPC) have incorporated wireless equipment into the official framework, but they remain trapped in a wired-centric, past paradigm.

Even if innovative companies develop superior wireless AI firefighting products, the standardization of new technologies and the thresholds for fire equipment type approval are so high and complex that adoption is often delayed. While new technologies are shackled by outdated regulations, the critical safety golden hour on-site vanishes like smoke.

Fire safety is never a subject for compromise. The digital transformation of the firefighting industry is a crucial task that can no longer be postponed. To overcome the phenomenon of 'regulatory lag,' where regulations hinder technological advancement, the National Fire Agency and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety must boldly revise relevant laws and promptly establish performance-based design standards aligned with global levels, enabling the legal and swift introduction of wireless and AI firefighting technologies into the field.

The convergence of wireless firefighting and artificial intelligence, embracing advanced technology, will become a new global standard for safety, extending beyond South Korea, and AI-based fire prediction systems will become a flagship export industry. It is time to open the path to a safe South Korea by collectively reviewing the Fire Prevention Act, the Disaster and Safety Management Act, the Artificial Intelligence Basic Act, and the Building Act, and pooling our wisdom without silos, at the heart of this innovation.

◆ Cho Young-jin, CEO

CEO of RoseAI