Jeju Island, Special Measures to Prevent Large Wildfires... Urging Visitors to Practice Wildfire Safety

Jeju Special Self-Governing Province expects an increased risk of spring forest fires due to rising temperatures and dry weather, and has therefore entered a special large forest fire prevention period earlier than last year, starting from March 5 until April 17, focusing all efforts on forest fire prevention.

From January to February this year, 225 forest fires occurred nationwide, which is 1.8 times higher than the same period last year (126 cases in 2021).

In particular, large forest fires occurred on February 16 in Yeongdeok, Gyeongbuk (about 400 hectares) and on February 28 in Hapcheon, Gyeongnam (about 675 hectares), causing massive damage with approximately 1,075 hectares of forest cultivated over decades destroyed.

In response to the nationwide forest fire situation, the Jeju Forest Fire Prevention Headquarters issues forest fire warnings according to the risk level and maintains a 24-hour emergency contact system.

At vulnerable areas with heavy visitor traffic, 120 forest fire suppression personnel and 123 monitoring personnel are deployed to intensively crack down on carrying flammable materials and smoking.

Special weekend and holiday crackdowns are conducted with forest fire patrol vehicles targeting vulnerable areas prone to burning near forest edges. If violations are detected, strict measures including fines and legal actions will be enforced.

The local forest fire prevention council strengthens an organic cooperation system among related organizations. In particular, coordination is enhanced with the Korea Forest Service Jeju Forest Aviation Management Office’s forest fire suppression helicopters and the Fire Safety Headquarters helicopters to maintain an initial suppression posture within the golden time (50 minutes).

Jeju = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Changwon captain@asiae.co.kr

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