31 Helicopters Mobilized... Korea Forest Service Aims to Extinguish Ulju Wildfire by Morning

Nighttime wildfire scene in Ungchon-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan City, captured by drone. Provided by Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Thirty-one helicopters are being deployed to the wildfire site in Ulju. The forestry authorities have issued a full mobilization order for national wildfire suppression helicopters, aiming to extinguish the fire by noon.

According to the Korea Forest Service on the 20th, the wildfire broke out at 1:51 PM the previous day in Ungchon-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan City.

After the wildfire occurred, the Central Wildfire Prevention Headquarters of the Korea Forest Service dispatched 14 wildfire suppression helicopters and about 2,000 personnel, including public officials and special wildfire suppression teams, to fight the fire.

However, due to strong winds the previous day, the wildfire spread from the forest area opposite Ulsan Arts High School toward the Donghae Expressway, causing an estimated 200 hectares of forest damage.

In response, the Ulsan City Wildfire Prevention Headquarters focused on establishing firebreaks around residential areas overnight to prevent the wildfire from spreading to houses.

Additionally, the Korea Forest Service issued a full mobilization order for all available national wildfire suppression helicopters, deploying a total of 31 firefighting helicopters, wildfire suppression vehicles, and fire trucks?112 units in total?to the wildfire site at sunrise.

Currently, the site has mobilized 18 helicopters owned by the Korea Forest Service, including three extra-large wildfire suppression helicopters, six helicopters from the Ministry of National Defense, five from the National Fire Agency, one from Gyeongnam Province, and one from the National Park Service.

On the ground, 1,942 personnel are engaged in firefighting operations, including 156 airborne suppression team members and special wildfire suppression teams, 686 firefighters, and 1,100 public officials.

Choi Byung-am, Deputy Administrator of the Korea Forest Service, said, “We plan to concentrate wildfire suppression helicopters on the site during the morning when the wind is relatively weaker to complete the extinguishing efforts. Separately, we ask the public to maintain continuous attention to the wildfire situation and refrain from using fire near forests and forest-adjacent areas.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.