The forest fire that started in Uljin, North Gyeongsang and spread to Samcheok, Gangwon, continued for the third day.



At the same time as today's sunrise, the Korea Forest Service immediately put in 51 fire-fighting helicopters (31 of the Forest Service, 13 of the Ministry of National Defense, 4 of the firefighting unit, 2 of the police, and 1 of the national park) to extinguish the fire.



4,346 firefighters (1,75 including special firefighters and civil servants, 1,171 soldiers, 2,100 others) and 253 fire engines including fire engines were mobilized.



The forestry authorities are responding to today's wildfires by dividing them into 8 zones.



In particular, we plan to put fire-fighting resources first in residential areas, Bulmeori, and Sogwang-ri, Geumgangsong-myeon.



In Sogwang-ri, there are 1,600 hectares of pine trees that are more than 500 years old and the Geumgang pine community with an average age of 150 years.



The instantaneous maximum wind speed in the forest fire area today is predicted to be 5 to 10 m/s.



The forest fire ignited in Buk-myeon, Uljin-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, at around 11:17 am on the 4th, and spread to Samcheok, Gangwon, in the afternoon of the same day.



Overnight, the forestry and fire departments put all their efforts into defending Uljin-eup so that no damage occurred in the urban area of ​​Uljin-eup.



We put out the wildfires around Uljin-eup and used National Road 36 passing near Uljin-eup as a stop line to stop the movement of the flames.



In addition, thermal imaging drones were used to monitor the progress of forest fires in real time, and the elite aerial firefighting teams and forest fire special firefighting teams were deployed everywhere.



As a result of all efforts, the wildfire did not spread to downtown Uljin-eup overnight.



591 residents of Uljin Buk-myeon, Jukbyeon-myeon, and Uljin-eup were evacuated to 11 facilities, including the Uljin National Sports Center and Jukbyeon-myeon Welfare Center.



The evacuated residents had an anxious night, keeping their eyes on the direction of the fire.



Nam Tae-heon, deputy head of the Central Wildfire Prevention Countermeasures Headquarters, said, "The worst winter drought in 50 years is causing forest fires all over the country, making it difficult to extinguish."



(Photo = Yonhap News)