Special Alert Duty at Fire Stations Nationwide Ahead of Cheongmyeong and Hansik

468 Fire Trucks Deployed at 444 Key Hiking Trails and Park Cemeteries

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The National Fire Agency announced on the 1st that special alert duty will be carried out at fire stations nationwide due to the increased risk of fire caused by the rise in ancestral rites and hiking ahead of Cheongmyeong on the 4th and Hansik on the 5th.

The special alert duty period is from 6 p.m. on April 3rd to 9 a.m. on April 6th, during which 468 fire trucks and 2,389 firefighters and volunteer firefighters will be deployed forward at 444 locations including major hiking trails and park cemeteries.

April, when Cheongmyeong and Hansik ancestral rites take place, is characterized by dry weather and strong winds, leading to frequent forest and field fires. Even a small spark can quickly escalate into a large-scale fire, requiring special caution.

Last year, a forest fire that broke out on April 4th in the Gangwon-do area rapidly spread, destroying 530 hectares (ha) of forest and 822 buildings.

In particular, over the past three years, the average number of fires during the Cheongmyeong and Hansik periods was 150 per day, about 20% higher than the daily average of 125 fires throughout April. Among these, forest fires averaged 22 per day, approximately 69% more than the daily average of 13 forest fires in April. Most of these were caused by careless use of fire such as cigarette butts during ancestral rites and tree planting activities, accounting for 85.7%.

Accordingly, during the special alert duty period, the National Fire Agency will also strengthen patrol and publicity activities in vulnerable areas such as major park cemeteries and hiking trails nationwide.

Jeong Moon-ho, Commissioner of the National Fire Agency, said, "Since all citizens are going through a difficult time due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, we will operate an initial firefighting posture to the extent that it may seem like an overreaction to prevent another large-scale disaster such as forest fires."

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