Gangneung Wildfire Rapidly Spreads Toward Donghae... Highways and Railways Also Restricted

Wildfire in Okgye-myeon, Gangneung... Housing Damage
(Gangneung=Yonhap News) In the early morning of the 5th, a wildfire in the Namyang-ri area of Okgye-myeon, Gangneung-si, Gangwon Province caused houses to be completely destroyed. 2022.3.5 [Provided by Gangwon Fire Headquarters. Redistribution and DB prohibited]
hak@yna.co.kr
(End)

＜Copyright(c) Yonhap News Agency, Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited＞

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The wildfire that broke out last night in Ok-gye, Gangneung, Gangwon Province, is rapidly spreading toward the East Sea, driven by strong winds.

According to the forestry authorities on the 5th, the wildfire is currently spreading continuously toward Mangsang-dong, Bugok-dong, Balhan-dong, and Dongho-dong in the East Sea area, carried by winds blowing from the seaside.

The wind speed is observed to be around 7 m/s, but occasional strong gusts are adversely affecting the wildfire’s spread.

Donghae City has issued an evacuation order to local residents and urged them to close windows of apartments and houses. The forest damage area is estimated to be 60 hectares (600,000㎡), equivalent to 84 times the size of a soccer field (0.714 hectares), but since the fire has not been contained, the damage area is expected to increase.

The forestry authorities are currently deploying 16 helicopters and 2,000 personnel to extinguish the fire.

The road authorities have fully closed the 14.9 km section of the Donghae Expressway from Ok-gye Interchange to Donghae Interchange starting from 8 a.m. today.

Moreover, rail transportation has also been paralyzed. Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) changed the departure and arrival stations of the KTX traveling between Seoul Cheongnyangni and Donghae from Donghae Station to Gangneung Station around noon on the 5th.

The trains subject to change include three trains each on the up and down lines, and due to this change, a total of 10 trains, including the last train of the day, are expected to be affected, but this is subject to change depending on the fire suppression situation.

KORAIL has also suspended the shuttle Mugunghwa trains running between Donghae and Gangneung.

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