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The wildfire that started in Hapcheon, Gyeongnam during the daytime today (28th) is spreading to Gyeongbuk with strong winds.
Nearby residents were evacuated, and the forestry authorities issued the highest level of warning.
Correspondent Suwon-wook.
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Red flames covered the mountain ridge, and white smoke rose from all sides.
A fire broke out in a hillside in Yulgok-myeon, Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, around 2:26 p.m. today.
The fire, believed to have started on the mountainside, quickly spread in the northeast direction with strong southwest winds in dry weather, and has now spread to Goryeong, North Gyeongsang Province, six hours later.
Gyeongnam and Gyeongbuk fire departments mobilized 29 firefighting helicopters and 900 people to extinguish the fire, but they did not catch the fire.
At the site of the fire, the 3rd stage of forest fire response has been issued.
This is the highest level of action taken when the expected damage area is more than 100 ha and the average wind speed is 10 m/s.
The national forest fire warning has also been raised to the critical level.
About 90 residents in Hapcheon and Goryeong were evacuated, but fortunately there were no casualties.
[Jeong Tae-soo / Head of the village near the forest fire: Right now, it has come down to the village near the village behind the village, and about 8 helicopters have been mobilized, so the fires have become a little more frequent in the village.
] · The provincial government also issued a preliminary mobilization order No. 1 to prepare for it.
We plan to suppress the spread of wildfires overnight as much as possible and resume large-scale firefighting work by returning helicopters at dawn.
(Video editing: Park Soo-sun, screen provided by: Korea Forest Service)