10-Day Battle with Wildfire... Finally Extinguished!

Gyeongbuk Province Plans to Fully Commit to Swift Damage Recovery and Stabilizing Residents' Lives

Nighttime firefighting scene of the wildfire specialized suppression team.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Dong-guk] Gyeongsangbuk-do announced at 9 a.m. on March 13 that it had completed the main fire suppression after a fierce battle lasting 9 nights and 10 days, totaling 213 hours, for the wildfire that occurred around 11:17 a.m. on March 4 in Ducheon-ri, Buk-myeon, Uljin-gun.

The rain that fell from the early morning of the 13th greatly helped in extinguishing the last flames. However, to prevent the wildfire from reigniting or spreading again, thorough mop-up firefighting and monitoring of smoldering fires will be strictly enforced to carefully manage both large and small embers.

A total of 36,379 firefighting personnel, 679 helicopters, 342 fire engines, and 2,422 fire trucks were deployed for wildfire suppression, averaging about 3,600 personnel and 68 wildfire suppression helicopters per day.

The wildfire caused damage to 20,923 hectares of forest (18,463 hectares in Uljin and 2,184 hectares in Samcheok), 351 houses, and 748 other facilities. As a result, 3,529 households totaling 5,563 people were evacuated, and 219 households with 335 people became disaster victims.

This wildfire in Uljin is the largest single-area wildfire in history. The rugged terrain and the dense pine forests, which had become fuel due to the ongoing drought since last winter, spread rapidly with strong winds, making firefighting difficult.

Governor Lee Cheol-woo of Gyeongbuk Province took over the integrated command center from the Uljin County Governor at 2:10 p.m. on the 4th when the wildfire alert level 3 was issued, directing the firefighting efforts on-site and mobilizing all available resources from all cities and counties within the province to focus on wildfire suppression.

However, as the wildfire spread beyond the Gangwon-do border due to strong winds reaching about 20 meters per second, command authority was transferred to the head of the Korea Forest Service at 7 p.m., less than five hours later, and at 10 p.m., the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters declared a “disaster situation.”

In response to the massive damage caused by the wildfire, Gyeongbuk Province proposed the declaration of a special disaster zone for facility restoration and residents’ livelihood stabilization, as well as the establishment of a provincial-level special firefighting unit. Additionally, a field support team was set up in Uljin-gun to assist evacuees and disaster victims, making every effort to recover and restore from the wildfire damage.

Fortunately, the firefighting operation was completed without any casualties, which is attributed to the high level of civic awareness and compliance with national disaster response guidelines during emergencies.

Governor Lee Cheol-woo stated, “From now on, we have the responsibility to focus on damage recovery and to firmly prove to the residents who lost their homes and workplaces that both local and central governments exist to support them. I sincerely thank the public who have supported us in every way.”

He added, “I especially deeply appreciate the firefighters and volunteers who rushed to the scene and fought fiercely to extinguish the wildfire. We will spare no effort and mobilize all available means to ensure the rapid recovery of damage and the stabilization of residents’ lives so that the affected residents can fully return to their daily lives and livelihoods.”

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