‘Strong Wind Warning Lifted’ Korea Forest Service "Aiming to Extinguish Main Fires in Uljin and Samcheok by the 7th"

A wildfire suppression worker is engaged in firefighting activities amid the flames at the Uljin wildfire site. Photo by Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Uljin) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The forestry authorities, following the lifting of the strong wind advisory on the 7th, have determined that this day presents the optimal opportunity for wildfire suppression. At sunrise, they plan to deploy 89 wildfire suppression helicopters and 9,115 wildfire suppression personnel to the site to make every effort to extinguish the fires.

The forestry authorities aim to suppress the main wildfires in the East Coast region on this day.

To this end, the forestry authorities have completed ▲ setting suppression zones and deploying suppression resources ▲ maintenance of wildfire suppression helicopters and equipment ▲ installation of mobile water tanks in key areas ▲ full preparation of wildfire retardants ▲ protection of residential areas and major facilities ▲ deployment of wildfire suppression personnel.

As of this day, wildfires continue in four locations: Buk-myeon, Uljin, Gyeongbuk; Gimsatgat-myeon, Yeongwol, Gangwon; and Okge-myeon and Seongsan-myeon, Gangneung, Gangwon.

As of 6 p.m. the previous day, the total estimated damage area from the wildfires is 16,775 hectares.

By city and county, the damage is estimated at 12,039 hectares in Uljin, 2,100 hectares in Donghae, 1,900 hectares in Gangneung, 656 hectares in Samcheok, and 80 hectares in Yeongwol.

Additionally, by location, forestry authorities have identified damage to 407 facilities in Uljin and Samcheok, and 97 facilities in Gangneung and Donghae.

The scale of resident evacuations by region is highest in Uljin with 6,324 people, followed by Donghae with 580 people, and Gangneung with 95 people.

Nam Tae-heon, Deputy Director of the Korea Forest Service, stated, “We plan to mobilize all available ground and aerial suppression resources with the goal of completing the main wildfire suppression on the 7th. Through cooperation with related agencies, we will do our utmost to complete wildfire suppression as quickly as possible to alleviate the public’s concerns.”

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