6.7 out of 10 Wildfires Occur in Spring... Korea Forest Service Enhances Wildfire Disaster Response

The Korea Forest Service announced on the 1st that it will implement the 'K-Forest Fire Prevention Comprehensive Plan' to prevent forest fires in spring and minimize damage. On the same day, the Korea Forest Service held a plaque ceremony for the 'Central Forest Fire Prevention Headquarters' at the Central Forest Disaster Situation Room in the Government Complex Daejeon. Park Jong-ho, head of the Korea Forest Service (third from the right), is taking a commemorative photo with senior officials after the plaque ceremony. Photo by Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korea Forest Service is advancing its wildfire disaster response to prevent spring wildfires and minimize damage.

According to the Korea Forest Service on the 2nd, an average of 473.7 wildfires occurred annually over the past 10 years, resulting in the loss of 1,119.4 hectares of forest each year. In particular, wildfires were concentrated in the spring season throughout the year. In fact, the number of wildfires during the spring wildfire caution period from February 1 to May 15 averaged 311 cases annually, accounting for 67% of the total, and the damage area was 1,036.9 hectares, representing 92% of the total.

The concentration of wildfires in spring throughout the year is analyzed to be due to a combination of factors including weather drying caused by climate change, decreased rainfall (number of rainy days), low proportion of coniferous trees vulnerable to wildfires, and careless arson.

Accordingly, the Korea Forest Service has established the ‘K-Wildfire Prevention Comprehensive Plan’ to prevent spring wildfires and reduce damage. The comprehensive plan is based on five major strategies: ▲strengthening smart wildfire response ▲establishing preparedness for each wildfire stage ▲customized wildfire prevention by cause and target ▲differentiated firefighting strategies ▲and raising wildfire safety awareness.

Strengthening smart wildfire response includes the introduction of a three-dimensional (3D) wildfire prediction system that reproduces mountainous terrain as it is.

This system upgrades the previously operated two-dimensional (2D) wildfire spread prediction system by implementing protection facilities such as residential areas, transmission towers, cultural assets, and mountainous terrain in the same form as reality, enabling precise firefighting activities at wildfire sites.

Also, when wildfire watchers transmit wildfire videos and ignition points to the central wildfire situation room using GPS-based ‘smart devices,’ the firefighting team closest to the location can be dispatched promptly for early suppression.

In the East Coast region, where large wildfires have recently concentrated, smoke, flame, and motion detection centers and smart closed-circuit CCTV are installed, and four ICT (Information and Communication Technology) platforms linked to these are being expanded to play a role in preventing wildfire occurrences.

Additionally, the Korea Forest Service plans to continuously expand the wildfire prevention foundation by increasing the creation of fire-resistant forest belts that delay wildfire spread.

Preparedness for each wildfire crisis stage and customized wildfire prevention activities by cause and target will also be carried out simultaneously. First, the Korea Forest Service will establish and operate 300 wildfire prevention task forces nationwide during spring, deploying about 21,000 firefighting personnel including special wildfire suppression teams and 187 wildfire command vehicles on site.

To minimize wildfires caused by visitors to the mountains, entry controls will be strengthened in wildfire-prone areas selected through big data, and efforts will be made to eliminate causes of agricultural and rural area burning wildfires through cooperation with related agencies such as the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Park Jong-ho, Administrator of the Korea Forest Service, said, “As in previous years, there are concerns that wildfire occurrences will sharply increase in spring due to dry weather and strong winds. The Korea Forest Service will solidify the cooperation system with related agencies centered on the elite special wildfire suppression teams this year and do its best to minimize wildfire occurrences and damage.”

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