<Anchor>
Yesterday (21st) there was a forest fire in Gyeongbuk. The flames spread by strong winds threatened the nearby villages. Villagers evacuated overnight. In recent dry weather, wildfires have occurred one after another across the country, and the forest fire alarm has risen to a'severe' stage.
Reporter Lee Hyun-jung reports.
<Reporter>
Hazy smoke covered the sky.
A red flame burns horribly in the hills right next to the village.
Yesterday, around 3:20 pm, a report was received that smoke was coming up from the hills in Imdong-myeon, Andong-si, Gyeongbuk.
Since then, the fire quickly spread in the direction of the private house in a strong wind of close to 6 meters per second, and 300 residents and 450 people evacuated to nearby villages.
[Andong Fire Department official: The wind is causing a lot of forest fires. It is about to spread to private houses, and our side has established a line of defense now.] As the
forest fire continued to spread, the fire fighting authorities issued a forest fire mobilization decree No. Manpower was mobilized.
At the same time, fire in Yasan, Gamcheon-myeon, Yecheon-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and nearby residents evacuated, and forest fires occurred in Hadong, Gyeongsangnam-do and Yeongdong, Chungbuk, making it difficult to extinguish in dry weather.
The Korea Forest Service has upgraded the forest fire crisis warning to a'severe' level, and the Ministry of Public Administration and Security also operates a countermeasure support headquarters to support the extinguishing of forest fires.