Korea Forest Service Implements 'Wildfire Mobilization Orders by Stage'... Enhancing Efficiency with Field-Centered Response

The super-large wildfire suppression helicopter owned by the Korea Forest Service is demonstrating the wildfire suppression process on site. Photo by Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korea Forest Service is implementing a ‘Stepwise Mobilization Order for Wildfires.’ The stepwise mobilization order subdivides the wildfire situation into stages 1 to 3 and adjusts the response level for each stage, focusing on efficient wildfire response tailored to the on-site situation.

According to the Korea Forest Service on the 24th, the stepwise mobilization order will be applied starting today. The wildfire response process is primarily divided into initial response and spread response, but when the wildfire spreads, it is further subdivided into stages 1 to 3. For each stage, the authority to issue the mobilization order, criteria for determining the mobilization stage, and the scope and scale of mobilization by firefighting resources differ.

Each mobilization stage is determined based on on-site conditions such as weather, expected damage area, firefighting time, and information from the wildfire spread prediction system.

For example, Stage 1 is issued by the Korea Forest Service Administrator when the wildfire spread prediction shows an average wind speed between 2 and less than 4 m/s, expected damage area less than 30 hectares, and firefighting time under 8 hours. At the wildfire site, all firefighting personnel from the city, county, district, and national forest management office involved in the initial response, all firefighting helicopters from the jurisdictional agencies, 50% of helicopters from adjacent agencies, and 50% of drone firefighting teams are deployed.

Stage 2 is issued by the Korea Forest Service Administrator when the average wind speed is between 4 and less than 7 m/s, expected damage area is less than 100 hectares, and firefighting time is expected to be under 24 hours. At the site, all firefighting personnel from the initial response agencies, 50% of firefighting personnel from adjacent agencies, all firefighting helicopters from jurisdictional and adjacent agencies, and all drone firefighting teams are deployed.

Stage 3 is issued by the Korea Forest Service Administrator when the average wind speed is 7 m/s or higher, indicating a high possibility of a large-scale wildfire spread. At this stage, all available manpower and firefighting helicopters at the regional level are fully mobilized.

However, even if the criteria for the stepwise mobilization order are not met, the Korea Forest Service plans to issue a higher-level mobilization order if the wildfire occurs near residential areas or if there is concern about human casualties.

Choi Byung-am, Administrator of the Korea Forest Service, stated, "The Korea Forest Service will efficiently deploy firefighting resources according to the wildfire site situation to prioritize initial firefighting and strengthen response capabilities step by step to prevent wildfires from becoming large-scale." He added, "With this purpose, we have prepared the ‘Stepwise Mobilization Order,’ and from this spring wildfire caution period, we will ensure that the stepwise response system is established on-site to produce effective results."

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