<기사제목>Forest Service Chief: "No Possibility of Wildfire Spreading to Houses in Miryang... 187ha Damaged" (Comprehensive)

Nam Seong-hyun, head of the Korea Forest Service (center), explaining the plan to extinguish the Miryang wildfire

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Nam Seong-hyun, head of the Korea Forest Service, stated on the 31st that there is no possibility of the wildfire in Miryang spreading to residential areas.

Nam, the head of the Forest Service, held a wildfire suppression briefing at the on-site command center in Chunhwa-ri, Bubuk-myeon, Miryang-si, Gyeongnam Province, in the afternoon, saying, "We will mobilize all available resources to complete the suppression of the Miryang wildfire by today."

As of 5 p.m. that day, Nam explained that the suppression rate was 14% and the damaged area was 187 hectares.

He said, "There are difficulties in suppression due to strong winds with a gust speed of 11 m/s, smoke occurrence, and proximity to residential areas, but since various reservoirs are located nearby and suppression is being carried out three-dimensionally from the air and ground, once the wind calms down, there will be no major difficulties in suppressing the main fire."

He reported that about 100 households totaling 476 residents of the village and 228 people from a nearby nursing hospital have evacuated. Additionally, all 391 inmates of Miryang Detention Center were transferred to Daegu Prison.

Nam emphasized, "We will make plans for nighttime and strive for rapid suppression," adding, "Even after sunset (7:30 p.m.), we will deploy helicopters for about 10 minutes to do our best in suppressing the main fire."

Nam said, "The dry weather, which led to the issuance of a warning, appears to be the cause," and added, "Wildfires in late May are characterized by more smoke than flames because leaves are sprouting from the trees."

Meanwhile, the wildfire in Bubuk-myeon, Miryang-si, started around 9:25 a.m. that day on the mid-slope of Hwasan Mountain. At 11:45 a.m., a level 3 wildfire alert was issued. Since then, the Korea Forest Service, fire authorities, Gyeongnam Province, and Miryang City have deployed about 1,600 personnel for suppression and increased the number of helicopters to 44.

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