Gimhae-si Implements Special Measures for Wildfire Prevention on Jeongwol Daeboreum

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] Gimhae City, Gyeongnam Province, announced on the 24th that it will establish special wildfire prevention measures for Jeongwol Daeboreum due to increasing concerns about wildfires caused by burning Daljip (moon houses), shamanistic rituals, and burning of field ridges.

The city is recommending refraining from Jeongwol Daeboreum events this year as well as last year to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), but it anticipates that there may be folk games involving fire such as unreported Daljip burning, and plans to crack down through emergency duty and other measures.

On the day of Jeongwol Daeboreum, all staff of the Wildfire Prevention Countermeasures Headquarters will extend emergency duty until 10 p.m., and one-third of all township and neighborhood officials will extend emergency duty until 8 p.m. The city will also extend working hours for the wildfire specialized firefighting team and wildfire watchers to focus on cracking down on folk games and shamanistic rituals around wildfire-prone areas.

On the same day, Vice Mayor Kang Deok-chul plans to visit the Wildfire Prevention Countermeasures Headquarters situation room and the wildfire specialized firefighting team waiting room to inspect wildfire prevention and response readiness and encourage about 210 wildfire watchers.

A city official said, “Recently, due to dry weather and strong winds, large wildfires have occurred frequently across the country, and the causes of these wildfires are mostly analyzed as burning of field ridges adjacent to mountains, garbage incineration, and arson by visitors to the mountains,” and urged, “We ask all citizens to be aware that even a small spark can cause a wildfire.”

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