"April's 'Sanbul Nightmare' May Recur...Warning to Beware of 'Large Wildfires' from Small Causes"

Record Number and Shortest Duration of Wildfires in April Last Year
Majority of Wildfires Caused by Human Negligence
Increase in Spring Hiking Population and April General Election Issues
Spring Wildfire Risk Expected to Remain High This Year
Korea Forest Service, Related Agencies Collaborate for Wildfire Response

Last April saw a higher frequency of wildfires than usual, with large-scale wildfires occurring simultaneously across the country. Typically, wildfire frequency and damage have been concentrated in the spring season. However, even compared to the average of previous years, last spring's wildfire situation was statistically remarkable.

Especially this year, with the recovery of daily life from the pandemic and external factors such as the general election, the risk of wildfire occurrence is expected to increase. The forestry authorities emphasize that most wildfires are caused by human carelessness and urge caution to prevent minor mistakes from leading to major fires.

◆ ‘Shortest and Most’ Records Since Statistics Compilation = According to the Korea Forest Service on the 30th, a total of 596 wildfires occurred nationwide last year, destroying 4,992 hectares of forest. This represents a 5% increase in the number of cases (567 cases) and a 25% increase in damaged area (4,004 hectares) compared to the average of the past 10 years.

Last year, while the annual wildfire frequency and damage area were large, wildfires were particularly concentrated in April. Notably, on April 2nd last year, 35 wildfires occurred nationwide in a single day, marking the third highest number of wildfires recorded in one day. The following day (April 3rd), five large wildfires broke out simultaneously, setting a record as the first occurrence of such an event. The Korea Forest Service emphasizes that this is the shortest and most frequent wildfire occurrence since wildfire statistics began in 1986.

Spring has long been considered a season when wildfires are concentrated throughout the year. For example, the Korea Forest Service designates February 1st to May 15th as the ‘Spring Wildfire Prevention Period’ and November 1st to December 15th as the ‘Autumn Wildfire Prevention Period’ every year, focusing on wildfire prevention and response. This is because wildfires occur more frequently in spring and autumn than at other times.

During last year’s spring wildfire prevention period, 465 wildfires (out of 596 annually) occurred, causing damage to 4,926.5 hectares of forest (out of 4,992 hectares annually). Compared to the autumn wildfire prevention period of the same year, when 41 wildfires occurred and 19.8 hectares of forest were damaged, the number of cases was 11 times higher and the damage area was 246 times greater.

Even when comparing the 10-year averages statistically, wildfires were more frequent in spring than in autumn. The 10-year average number of wildfires in spring was 371 cases with a damage area of 3,325.4 hectares, while in autumn it was 38 cases with 13.0 hectares damaged, showing a significant difference. This is why the Korea Forest Service is earnest about responding to spring wildfires.

Statistical data on wildfires by cause. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

◆ Wildfire Statistics by Cause: ‘Carelessness’ Dominates = In statistics by cause of wildfire occurrence, ‘human-caused, careless wildfires’ overwhelmingly account for the majority.

For example, last year’s cause-specific statistics showed the following distribution: ▲ hikers (29% of cases, 27.9% of area) ▲ burning of rice paddies and field edges (10% of cases, 5.3% of area) ▲ garbage burning (12% of cases, 15% of area) ▲ cigarette-related fires (9% of cases, 29.4% of area) ▲ fires caused by visitors to ancestral graves (4% of cases, 1% of area) ▲ children playing with fire (1% of cases, negligible area) ▲ building fires (7% of cases, 0.8% of area) ▲ others (29% of cases, 20.6% of area).

Wildfires caused by hikers, cigarette fires, visitors to ancestral graves, and burning activities accounted for 64% of the total number of cases and 78.6% of the total damaged area. The ‘others’ category includes unknown causes, workplace fires, careless reprocessing, and arson, so when these are added, it is possible to analyze that human-caused wildfires exceed 90% of the total.

Based on these statistics, the Korea Forest Service is working to raise public awareness about wildfire prevention during the wildfire prevention period, but in reality, the frequency of human-caused wildfires does not appear to be decreasing.

Nam Seong-hyun, the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service, is announcing the '2024 Wildfire Prevention Measures' at the Government Complex Daejeon on the 29th. Photo by Korea Forest Service

◆ “Full Effort to Prevent the Reoccurrence of the April ‘Wildfire Nightmare’” = Every year, spring is a critical period for wildfire occurrence, and this year is no different.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the probability that temperatures and precipitation from February to April this year will be similar to the average is in the 40% range. Based on this, the Korea Forest Service expects the wildfire risk level this spring to remain similar to previous years.

However, the increase in hiking population since the COVID-19 pandemic and the National Assembly election scheduled for April 10th are considered wildcards that could increase wildfire risk, separate from seasonal factors, according to the Korea Forest Service.

Accordingly, the Korea Forest Service is expanding ‘on-site agricultural residue shredding’ activities in cooperation with the Rural Development Administration and local governments to block burning-related wildfires, which are a major cause of wildfires. They are also conducting comprehensive inspections of wood boiler reprocessing facilities operating near forests to eliminate wildfire risk factors.

Additionally, they are imposing entry restrictions (1.83 million hectares) and closing hiking trails (6,887 km) mainly in areas where spring wildfires have frequently occurred. They are also expanding the ‘ICT platform’ capable of real-time detection of wildfire signs using artificial intelligence to 20 locations nationwide.

Furthermore, the Korea Forest Service plans to enhance firefighting cooperation by introducing leased helicopters from overseas and coordinating with related agencies’ helicopters. They will also add 11 high-performance wildfire firefighting vehicles with three times the water capacity of existing vehicles to improve firefighting capabilities against nighttime and large-scale wildfires.

Nam Sung-hyun, Administrator of the Korea Forest Service, said, “The Korea Forest Service will strengthen inter-ministerial cooperation this year to respond comprehensively and minimize wildfire damage.”

He added, “Ninety-nine percent of wildfires are caused by human carelessness,” emphasizing, “We ask for the public’s cooperation and attention to prevent wildfire occurrence.”

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