<Anchor>
Let's take a look at the situation of the Uljin forest fire.
The wildfire that started in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, spread rapidly to Samcheok, Gangwon Province, with strong winds.
Let's see what the situation is right now.
Reporter Jae-Geun Cho, how's the forest fire situation?
<Reporter>
Yes, I am now in a village called Hosan-ri, Samcheok-si, Gangwon-do.
It is a village right next to Uljin, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and as you can see, the forest fire has spread to the mountain behind this village.
Most of the residents evacuated to a welfare center, etc. while the whole area around the village was engulfed in thick smoke.
Instead, fire engines are on standby around the village to prevent the fire from spreading to the houses.
So far, 114 residents from 5 villages have been evacuated in Samcheok alone, and 77 people from 2 nursing homes have been moved to safe places.
After Uljin, Samcheok has also been issued a 'severe' level of national crisis alert for forest fire disasters.
Now, if you move about 1.2 kilometers north of here, there is an LNG production base, and the fire department has concentrated 16 units of equipment belonging to the Central Rescue Headquarters to protect it.
Traffic and communication have been unstable since yesterday afternoon due to this forest fire. National Road 7 connecting Gangwon and Gyeongsangbuk-do is still under control, and communication failure has occurred in a 15-kilometer radius of the Uljin forest fire area.
In the Samcheok area, 732 manpower and 90 equipment are mobilized to prevent the spread of the fire.
However, in the mountains of Gangwon, the strong wind advisory has been strengthened to a strong wind warning from 10 pm, so there is concern that the forest fire will not be extinguished easily.
The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced that it would declare a state of disaster in Gangwon and Gyeongsangbuk-do starting at 10 pm tonight.