Let's talk with Won Myung-sook, director of the Research Center of the National Academy of Forest Sciences, who is in the
<Anchor> studio.
What is the current state of firefighting work?
<Expert>
There are a total of 7 wildfires currently in progress.
Yesterday (4th), in addition to the two cases in Uljin and Yeongwol, a total of 5 cases have been added now.
So, the damage area has been counted so far, about 6,200 hectares are currently being counted.
<Anchor>
I am worried about the LNG base again after the Hanul Nuclear Power Plant. How is the arson situation?
<Expert> The
Hanul Nuclear Power Plant and LNG production base are major national institutional facilities in Korea.
As a result, large helicopters from the Korea Forest Service have been intensively deployed to build a fire prevention line for the Korea Forest Service, and they have been intensively spraying retardant materials that can extinguish the current forest fire.
And since it can be unsafe, we have firefighting equipment on site and are constantly monitoring it.
And in the case of an LNG base, the wildfire has spread to the surrounding area, but it is still 1.5km away from the wildfire volcano, so it is safe to some extent.
Just in case, a fire line has been built to prevent the embers from flying.
<Anchor>
But why did the wildfire get so big?
<Expert>
As you may have seen in the weather report yesterday, the wind was very strong.
The strong wind that blows in March and April around this time is 25-30 m/sec.
(Seoul was also strong yesterday.) It came in very strongly.
There was a reason for that, but in general, when it is nighttime and you go to dawn, strong winds should subside a bit, but this time, such a phenomenon was a bit of an exception.
A very strong wind was blowing continuously.
It still holds up to this day.
There were many such causes, and in the case of Gangwon-do and the east coast of Gyeongbuk, pine is a very flammable species.
They have such a characteristic that they have a large distribution.
Since pine contains rosin, it plays a secondary role such that the firepower becomes very strong, so it seems that this part created a condition where it is very difficult to extinguish a forest fire.
<Anchor>
What are the characteristics of this wildfire?
<Expert>
Large wildfires are classified as large fires when they are over 100 hectares and last more than 24 hours.
In fact, if you look at the number of large-scale forest fires in the last 10 years, there were wildfires in Sokcho, Sokcho, Gangwon, and Goseong in 2019, which were urban forest fires.
As a result, casualties and property damage were enormous.
And in April 2020, about 2,000 hectares were damaged in Andong, mostly strong winds and very dry conditions.
Since it occurs in such a situation, especially in the case of spring, it is a situation that requires very careful attention in such conditions.
<Anchor>
You just said it, but I was doing the news recently, and a drying advisory was issued.
Could this be a difficult reason?
<Expert>
Yes.
When the air is dry, the moisture content contained in fallen leaves is very low, so these are the things that make the most suitable environment for ignition.
<Anchor>
Is it possible to predict how the wildfire will move and progress?
<Expert>
Our National Academy of Forest Sciences has developed a forest fire spread prediction program.
Weather conditions, including wind speed data, temperature data, effective humidity, and any effect of terrain can be comprehensively analyzed to predict the intensity, direction, and spread of wildfires.
So, depending on the progress, we issue an evacuation order.
And it can be used in the strategy of building a fire line that says which point is dangerous.
<Anchor>
Is there anything else you would like to ask for?
<Expert>
The current situation is very bad.
Firefighting helicopters are also being placed in the right place now, but these are very difficult, so those who are actually at the site now listen to evacuation orders and such, and those in other areas are in the paddy fields where you have to be careful of even small fires in such dry conditions. Please do not incinerate or incinerate garbage.