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The wildfire that started in Uljin, Gyeongbuk quickly spread to Samcheok, Gangwon-do with strong winds, and continues to spread even now.

A state of disaster was declared in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province and Samcheok, Gangwon Province, at 10 o'clock last night (the 4th).

Let's see what the situation is right now.



Reporter Jae-geun Cho, tell us about the forest fire situation.



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Yes, I am now in a place called Wolcheon-ri, Wondeok-eup, Samcheok-si, Gangwon-do.



It is located right next to Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, and as you can see, the fire has come down to the mountain behind this village and is heading towards the village.



The wind, which had weakened for a while last night, started to pick up again around midnight, and the spread of the flames is gradually increasing.



The surrounding area was engulfed in thick smoke, and most of the residents evacuated to a safe place, such as a welfare center.



Fire trucks have been deployed around the village to prepare for the spread of the fire to the house.



After Uljin, Samcheok has also been issued a 'severe' level of national crisis alert for forest fire disasters.



An LNG production base is located about 500 to 600 meters north of here.



The fire department is intensively deploying 16 equipment belonging to the Central 119 Rescue Headquarters to protect the site, and Korea Gas Corporation is also deploying eight firefighting equipment such as fire trucks and tarpaulins and 80 firefighters. 



Traffic and communication have been unstable since yesterday afternoon due to this forest fire.



National Road No. 7 connecting Gangwon and Gyeongbuk is still under control, and communication problems have occurred in a 15km radius of the Uljin wildfire 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 from 10 pm last night.