Seoul City Mobilizes Drones for Wildfire Prevention... 'Countermeasures Headquarters' Operates Until May

Deploy drones equipped with high-performance cameras and thermal sensors in areas and times prone to wildfires for monitoring
Install modernized equipment such as high-pressure water hoses, wildfire extinguishing facilities, and black boxes

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will operate the 'Wildfire Prevention Countermeasures Headquarters' from the 1st to May 15th, a period when the risk of wildfires increases due to the dry spring weather, and will make an all-out effort to prevent wildfires.

Seoul announced that it has established a comprehensive wildfire prevention plan for this year. Following last year, the city will continue a pilot project deploying advanced unmanned aerial drones to proactively monitor wildfire occurrences, and plans to patrol areas with frequent wildfires and vulnerable time periods using drones to prevent arson by visitors.

To strengthen wildfire monitoring, in addition to the 14 unmanned surveillance cameras currently in operation, the city plans to add 8 more black box cameras (bringing the total to 57). This aims to eliminate blind spots not covered by existing cameras and to raise public awareness.

Among places like Bukhansan, where wildfires have frequently occurred over the past 30 years, 24 locations have been designated as 'high-risk wildfire areas' and will be specially managed with enhanced patrols. For 17 vulnerable facilities such as nursing hospitals and nursing homes located near mountains, evacuation sites and routes will be pre-announced to ensure quick evacuation in case of wildfire.

To strengthen aerial firefighting, an organic cooperation system will be established with related agencies such as the Korea Forest Service, Fire Agency, and Gyeonggi Province to jointly utilize a total of 30 firefighting helicopters owned by each agency. Additionally, wildfire prevention promotional videos and webtoons will be conducted to prevent arson by visitors, and a public crisis communication and dissemination system as well as resident evacuation guidance will be established to prevent casualties and property damage from wildfires.

To enhance ground firefighting, the wildfire equipment modernization project will continue this year. To improve and upgrade the performance of wildfire equipment, the city plans to continuously expand and strengthen the initial firefighting foundation by additionally securing modernized ground firefighting equipment such as high-pressure water hoses connected to mountain summits, wildfire extinguishing facilities, wildfire firefighting vehicles, and wildfire mechanized systems.

Furthermore, in case of wildfire spread, the city will operate a wildfire spread prediction system together with the National Institute of Forest Science to predict wildfire paths and understand the progress on site for firefighting command. Drones equipped with thermal sensors will be operated at wildfire damage sites to measure forest temperatures and detect smoldering fires. A 'Wildfire Expert Investigation Team' composed of wildfire specialists will be operated to accurately identify the causes of wildfire outbreaks through damage investigation and on-site inspection, which will be used for future wildfire prevention. Wildfire perpetrators will be tracked through surveillance cameras and black box cameras.

Seoul will also do its best to prevent wildfires by ensuring that hikers do not carry flammable materials when entering major hiking trail entrances, and will strictly pursue and punish wildfire perpetrators. The city urges that in case of wildfire occurrence, immediate reporting should be made to the fire station, Seoul Wildfire Comprehensive Situation Room, and Korea Forest Service Wildfire Situation Room.

Choi Yoon-jong, Director of the Seoul Green City Bureau, said, "To protect Seoul's precious forests and citizens' property, we will mobilize all advanced equipment and personnel and make every effort to prevent wildfires through close cooperation with related agencies such as the Korea Forest Service, Fire Agency, military, and police," and added, "We ask citizens to actively participate and cooperate in wildfire prevention activities."

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