Ministry of the Interior and Safety Provides 10 Billion KRW Special Subsidy for Wildfire Prevention

Expansion of Prevention Activities and Firefighting Equipment

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 19th that it will provide a special grant of 10 billion KRW to local governments for wildfire prevention activities and firefighting equipment maintenance during the spring wildfire caution period (February 1 to May 15).

Over the past 10 years, an average of 535 wildfires occurred annually, with 347 cases (64.9%) concentrated in the spring season. Furthermore, as the COVID-19 quarantine situation has somewhat stabilized, the increase in hiking population has led to 61% of wildfire causes being attributed to arson by mountain visitors and agricultural waste burning, making wildfire prevention guidelines, monitoring, and early response more important than ever.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This special grant will be subdivided and used to focus on reducing the main causes of wildfires, such as arson by mountain visitors and agricultural waste burning, through ▲ wildfire prevention guideline dissemination ▲ expansion of agricultural byproduct shredders and firefighting equipment ▲ improvement of local government leased helicopter hangars.

First, since spring is a period with a high risk of wildfires due to dry weather, agricultural burning for farming preparation, and an increase in mountain visitors, there will be a focused effort to provide wildfire prevention and response guidelines.

In addition, to prevent wildfires caused by burning agricultural byproducts near forest-adjacent villages and farmland, shredders will be provided, and personal firefighting equipment will be expanded to assist ground firefighting teams in initial wildfire suppression activities.

Moreover, to enable rapid and safe wildfire suppression, local governments will improve leased helicopter hangars and secure mobile water tanks to shorten the time required to refill firefighting helicopters, thereby strengthening local wildfire response capabilities.

Minister of the Interior and Safety Sangmin Lee emphasized, “Local governments should do their best to conduct wildfire prevention guidance activities and establish response systems in advance to prevent spring wildfires from spreading into large-scale fires,” and added, “We ask the public to pay close attention and cooperate in wildfire prevention by checking the national wildfire prevention action guidelines before hiking in spring.”

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