70-Year-Old Man Dies in Suspected Arson Fire on a Hillside in Damyang, Jeonnam

Damyang wildfire Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] A fire, suspected to be caused by arson, broke out on a mountain in Damyang-gun, Jeonnam, and during the firefighting efforts by disaster prevention authorities and the police, a 75-year-old man identified as A was found collapsed on the mountain and was transported to a hospital but passed away.

According to disaster prevention authorities on the 23rd, the fire broke out around 2:27 PM on a mountain in Wolsan-myeon, Damyang-gun, and firefighting efforts were initiated.

The disaster prevention authorities who responded to the fire discovered A (75) collapsed and immediately transported him to a hospital.

The authorities estimate that A was caught in the fire after burning garbage, which spread unexpectedly.

The authorities deployed seven helicopters from the Korea Forest Service and one helicopter from local governments, and by around 5:10 PM, about 1 hour and 40 minutes later, they controlled the major fire and were extinguishing the remaining flames.

It is preliminarily estimated that 0.3 hectares of forest land were burned in this fire, and fortunately, although there were houses at the foot of the mountain, the fire did not spread toward the residential area.

The disaster prevention authorities plan to investigate the cause of A’s death and the cause of the fire once the firefighting operations are completed.

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