<Anchor>



The wildfire that started in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province has already been going on for over 19 hours.

The fire department tried to extinguish the fire overnight, but the strong wind is making it difficult to extinguish the fire.

We connect reporters who are on-site.



Reporter Shin Yong-shik, has there been any progress in the overnight evolution?



<Reporter>



Yes, I am in Ducheon-ri, Buk-myeon, Uljin-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do.



It is close to where the fire first started.



It has already been 19 hours since the fire started, but a bright red flame is still burning between the mountain ridge and the trees.



The fire department switched to the 'night system' last night, and 1,951 firefighters were put in to extinguish wildfires in Uljin and Samcheok.



The scale of the fire was so large and the wind was blowing, so instead of putting out the fire, we put all our energy into preventing the spread of the fire.



[Kim Gi-oh / Forest Service Pyeongchang-gun Special Firefighters: We are protecting the area around the house.

Protecting the house by putting out the wildfire.

After spraying all the water.]



<Anchor>



There is a nuclear power plant nearby, don't you have to worry?



<Reporter>



Yes, the fire once spread to the border of the Hanul nuclear power plant yesterday (the 4th), but fortunately, it was confirmed that there was no damage to the nuclear power plant facilities.



In addition, the fire department and forestry authorities are preparing for unforeseen situations by building fire lines around the nuclear power plant.



The areas affected by forest fires such as Uljin and Samcheok that have been identified so far are estimated to be about 3,300 ha.



It is 11 times the size of Yeouido in Seoul, making it the largest in the past 10 years.



As a result, approximately 5,000 local residents were evacuated to gyms or welfare centers.



Fortunately, there have been no casualties so far.



The government is planning to launch a full-scale response by declaring a state of disaster in Uljin and Samcheok last night, and deploying about 50 helicopters at the same time as sunrise.



The strong winds and dry weather are expected to cause considerable difficulties in evolution.