East Coast Wildfire Damage Area 'Record High'... 83 Times the Size of Yeouido

April 2000 Wildfire Damage Area on East Coast Surpassed
648 Houses and Agricultural Facilities Damaged... 390 Disaster Victims

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The area affected by the wildfires on the East Coast has recorded the largest scale since related statistics began in 1986. The previous largest wildfire occurred in April 2000, but this time the affected area has surpassed that.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) as of 5 a.m. on the 11th, the scale of forest damage caused by the wildfire was estimated at 24,021 hectares. This is 83 times the size of Yeouido (290 hectares) and equivalent to about 33,600 soccer fields (0.714 hectares each). In Gyeongbuk Uljin alone, the damage reached 18,484 hectares, followed by Donghae with 2,100 hectares, Gangneung with 1,900 hectares, and Samcheok with 1,509 hectares.

The wildfire damage area on the East Coast in 2000 was 23,794 hectares. The wildfire that lasted from April 7 to 15, 2000, caused damage worth 36 billion KRW. The CDSCH expects the current wildfire damage to be similar in scale to the 2000 wildfire. The damage area of the Goseong wildfire in April 1996 was 3,762 hectares.

So far, no casualties have been reported, but 648 sites including houses and agricultural and livestock facilities have suffered direct or indirect damage. This includes 358 houses (Uljin 285, Donghae 59, Gangneung 10, Samcheok 4), 48 agricultural and livestock facilities (Uljin 37, Donghae 10, Gangneung 1), 167 factories and warehouses (Uljin 123, Donghae 42, Gangneung 2), and 75 religious facilities and others (Uljin 15, Donghae 59, Samcheok 1).

Firefighting operations are still ongoing. The wildfires in Gangneung and Donghae are in the mop-up stage after extinguishing the main fires, while the wildfires in Uljin and Samcheok have reached a 75% containment rate. Authorities planned to extinguish the fire that spread to the Geumgangsong-myeon area before moving on to the Bukmyeon Eungbongsan area, but the goal was not achieved.

The authorities have deployed 1,652 personnel, including 454 firefighters, 216 government officials, and 970 fire and police officers, utilizing 372 vehicles such as command cars, firefighting vehicles, and fire trucks. At sunrise, 88 helicopters will be continuously deployed, including 82 between Uljin and Samcheok and 6 between Gangneung and Donghae.

Meanwhile, the authorities are also actively promoting various support measures for the disaster victims. The wildfire has affected 252 households totaling 390 people, with 171 households and 254 people currently staying in temporary housing facilities. The government announced support measures for the victims in the specially designated disaster areas of Uljin, Samcheok, Gangneung, and Donghae, including free provision of temporary modular houses and up to 50% reduction in health insurance premiums.

An official from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety explained, "For the temporary modular houses, construction companies and site selection will be completed by the 11th, and production and foundation work will be finished by the 25th, allowing residents to move in. The estimated demand for housing is 260 units, including 228 in Uljin, 30 in Donghae, and 2 in Gangneung."

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