Korea Forest Service, "Main Fire at Eungbongsan to be Controlled Today"... 85% of Samcheok Wildfire Extinguished

80 Firefighting Helicopters Deployed to Extinguish Eungbongsan Main Fire
Chuncheon Hillside Wildfire Extinguished in About 1 Hour 20 Minutes

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] The forestry authorities are putting all their efforts into extinguishing the wildfire in the Eungbongsan area of Uljin and Samcheok, which has continued for the ninth day.

At a briefing on the 12th, Choi Byung-am, the head of the Korea Forest Service, stated, "As of this morning, the containment rate of the Samcheok wildfire is 85%," and added, "Our goal today is to extinguish the main fire on Eungbongsan."

The main fire of the Samcheok wildfire is located near the summit of Eungbongsan (altitude 999.7m), which borders Gyeongbuk Uljin.

The authorities divided Uljin Eungbongsan into three zones and deployed 80 helicopters, 100 special firefighting personnel from the Korea Forest Service, 60 aerial firefighting teams, and 200 special forces soldiers for firefighting efforts.

Four helicopters were dispatched to extinguish the remaining flames in Sogwang-ri and Deokgu-ri, where the Korean red pine forest is located, and 627 personnel were assigned.

The authorities expected the Korea Meteorological Administration's rain forecast on the 13th to play a decisive role in extinguishing the wildfire.

The Korea Meteorological Administration forecasted that 5 to 10 mm of rain would fall along the southern East Coast of Gangwon, including Samcheok, from 7 a.m. on the 13th to 6 a.m. on the 14th.

Since the wildfire started on the 4th, a total of 20,647 hectares have been damaged, including 18,463 hectares in Uljin and 2,184 hectares in Samcheok.

There have been no casualties, but 353 houses and 754 facilities were destroyed, and 337 residents were evacuated.

Meanwhile, at around 11:34 a.m. on the same day, a fire broke out in a mountain area in Gunja-ri, Dongsan-myeon, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon Province, and was extinguished in about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

The forestry authorities deployed two helicopters and 83 personnel to control the fire by around 1 p.m. that day and are currently investigating the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage.

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