California Wildfires Burn Area Six Times the Size of Seoul... Requests for Help from Australia and Canada

Difficulty in Firefighting Amid 40°C Heatwave... Damage to Over 500 Houses

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Wildfires in California, USA, have burned forests equivalent to six times the area of Seoul as they continue to resist containment. The U.S. government has requested firefighting support personnel from Australian and Canadian authorities and is making an all-out effort to respond, but with heatwaves exceeding 40 degrees Celsius persisting, containment is progressing slowly.

According to the Associated Press and others on the 22nd (local time), wildfires occurring at 560 locations in California have so far burned 915,000 acres (approximately 3,702 km²) of forest. The scale of the wildfire damage exceeds six times the area of Seoul (about 605 km²). Casualties and property damage from the wildfires are also increasing, with 6 people dead and 33 injured to date. Five people died in a wildfire that swept through the northern San Francisco area the previous day, and on the 19th, a firefighting helicopter crashed, killing one pilot. Approximately 500 houses and other buildings have been reported burned so far.

California has issued evacuation orders to at least 100,000 residents and deployed about 12,000 firefighters to the wildfire sites. Ten neighboring states including Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Nevada, Iowa, Utah, and Montana have dispatched firefighting support personnel to California. Governor Gavin Newsom held a press conference the previous day, stating, "I have never seen wildfires of this scale in years," and added, "Although the number of firefighting personnel has increased, it is still not enough." California has also decided to request firefighters from Canada and Australia, which have extensive wildfire suppression experience.

However, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius continuing, the flames are burning more fiercely, and containment is progressing slowly. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection stated, "The wildfires are rapidly sweeping through parched trees and grasslands," and "some wildfires have doubled in size overnight."

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