"Year-Round and Large-Scale Wildfires Overlapping with 'Nationalization'... Rising Tension at Wildfire Sites"

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] “Year-round and large-scale wildfires? Nowadays, the concept of nationwide wildfires has also been added.” Ko Gi-yeon (56, photo), head of the Wonju Forest Aviation Headquarters, defined the recent wildfire trends.

Wonju Forest Aviation Headquarters Director Gogi-yeon. Provided by Korea Forest Service

In the past, wildfires tended to subside somewhat from May to June, when the forests became dense, until before the leaves fell. For the same reason, it was commonly believed on-site that the wildfire risk during this period was correspondingly lower. However, this conventional wisdom has recently become difficult to agree with in the field.

Head Ko said, “In the past, from the time the acacia trees bloomed (May to June), the tension at wildfire sites tended to ease somewhat,” adding, “There was an implicit belief that as the forest became dense and the moisture content in the leaves increased, even if a wildfire occurred, it would not lead to a large fire.”

However, due to climate change, with more dry days and relatively less annual precipitation compared to the past, the atmosphere of reassurance associated with acacia trees is fading like an old tale, according to Head Ko.

Above all, recent wildfire trends show a clear tendency toward large-scale fires. Under weather conditions combining dry weather and strong regional winds, wildfires tend to become large-scale.

The closest example is the Uljin wildfire that occurred in March last year, which destroyed about 20,000 hectares of forest in Gyeongbuk Uljin and Gangwon Samcheok areas before being extinguished. In terms of damage scale, it is classified as a large wildfire, but considering the time taken for complete extinguishment (213 hours and 43 minutes), it is recorded as the ‘longest-lasting wildfire’ since wildfire statistics began to be compiled in 1986.

Earlier, the 2020 Goseong wildfire started in May from a house (wood boiler) and, riding strong winds, the fire spread to nearby hills, growing into a large wildfire that completely destroyed six houses and facilities and burned 85 hectares of forest. The Goseong wildfire that year also occurred just 4 km away from the 2019 Gangwon Province wildfire area.

In addition to wildfires becoming year-round and large-scale, the recent spread of wildfire occurrences to ‘various parts of the country’ is raising the sense of crisis among forest authorities.

Head Ko said, “From the end of last year to the beginning of this year, there have been ‘2 to 3 or more’ large and small wildfires occurring consecutively nationwide,” adding, “On-site, there is a heightened sense of crisis that wildfires can occur anytime and anywhere, and especially depending on weather conditions, small sparks can easily spread into large wildfires.”

He continued, “The Wonju Headquarters is a key axis that comprehensively controls the operation of wildfire extinguishing helicopters nationwide,” emphasizing, “We will do our best to ensure that helicopter-based wildfire extinguishing activities in wildfire-affected areas nationwide proceed timely and efficiently.”

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