<Anchor> The



screen you see now is a satellite image of the worst US wildfire situation ever.

White smoke is clearly visible, and the black area around it has already been burned, but so far, over a fifth of Korea's area has become ashes.

Our reporter went to the scene of a wildfire in the west with permission from the authorities.



This is Kim Jong-won, correspondent at the scene of a forest fire in California.



<Reporter>



I am now at the scene of a forest fire named El Dorado, about an hour away from Los Angeles.



Our reporters had access to the site with permission from the California fire department, and this wildfire, which you see now, started with a party with firecrackers in a nearby private house.



I have already burned 1.5 times the area of ​​Gangnam-gu, Seoul in my 10th day, but there is still no sign of going off.



This wildfire, which has burned 10 buildings including private houses and facilities, is spreading to another village.




Since the fire area is so large, the fire brigade is putting more emphasis on building fire lines rather than extinguishing them.



A forest fire is burning right above this right now.



Wood is cut like this to stop this wildfire from spreading downwards.



However, despite these efforts, the fire was hardly caught, and the fields that the fires swept through were trees, cacti, and all charcoal blocks.




This is the scene where all the trees burned down as the forest fire swept down.



If you still touch the ash on the floor, you can feel the warmth.



By the way, just cross the road from here to start a mountain village.



As the fire stopped in front of the village, I was able to avoid a big anger.



Today, the village has literally turned into a ghost town with all 90 residents evacuating.



[Inhabitants near forest fires: When the flames came down to the ridge in front of the village last Saturday, a mandatory evacuation order was issued.

The fireworks were flying in the air.

Firefighters climbed onto the roof and sprayed water.]



Another wildfire scene about an hour away.



For ten days, a forest fire burned right above a private house with hundreds of households, and so far, 170 square kilometers, 30% of Seoul's area, have been burned.



This village under the mountain has been given an evacuation advisory, but the smell of burning is vibrating throughout the village.



[Villagers near forest fires: smoke, smell, bad.

(A few days ago) I wasn't worried because the fire was burning in the far east.

But the wind didn't blow, but suddenly the fire went across the street and spread all the way here.

I can't believe it.] In



the western United States, nearly 100 fires, including such a large wildfire, are burning simultaneously, making the worst wildfire damage in history like a snowball.



(Video coverage: Lee Sang-wook, video editing: Jang Hyun-ki)