Daejeon and Chungnam Strong Winds Hamper Wildfire Suppression Efforts

Forest authorities are struggling with firefighting efforts due to strong winds at wildfire sites in Daejeon and Chungnam.

On the afternoon of the 3rd, the wildfire in Hongseong is intensifying due to strong winds. The Korea Forest Service's wildfire suppression helicopter is conducting firefighting activities by dropping water from the air. Provided by the Korea Forest Service [Image source=Yonhap News]

According to forest authorities on the 3rd, the wildfires broke out the previous day in Seobu-myeon, Hongseong-gun, Chungnam (around 11 a.m.) and Sanjik-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon (around 12:22 p.m.), and firefighting efforts have been ongoing for two days.

As of 2 p.m. on the 3rd, the containment rate is 66% in Hongseong and 81% in Daejeon.

In Hongseong, helicopters deployed at the site at sunrise temporarily raised the containment rate to 73% at 11 a.m. However, forest authorities explain that the containment rate dropped again as embers were reignited by strong winds reaching a maximum speed of 12 m/s.

The wildfire-affected area also increased from 935 hectares at 8 a.m. to 1,054 hectares at 2 p.m. The remaining fire line is 8 km out of a total of 20.0 km (6.2 km at 8 a.m.). It is reported that the maximum wind speed at the Daejeon wildfire site is stronger than in Hongseong, reaching 15 m/s.

The situation at the Daejeon wildfire is no different from that in Hongseong. The containment rate, which had risen to 84% at 11 a.m., dropped to 81% as of 2 p.m., while the wildfire-affected area increased from 414 hectares to 435 hectares, and the remaining fire line extended from 2.6 km to 3.3 km.

A forest authority official said, "We aimed to contain the main fire in the morning, but strong winds at the site have made firefighting efforts difficult," adding, "We plan to focus on containing the main fire by deploying helicopters and equipment to the fullest extent possible before sunset."

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