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As the forest fires in Uljin, Gyeongbuk and Samcheok, Gangwon-do continued for the 8th day, forest damage is expected to record the highest ever.

Forest officials are aiming to extinguish the main fire within this week, but they are struggling because the flames are strong and wide.

Let's find out more about the wildfire situation by connecting a reporter.



Reporter Hong Seung-yeon, how is the fire extinguishing situation today (11th)?



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As soon as the sun comes up, the forest authorities are putting all their efforts into catching the main fires of the Uljin and Samcheok wildfires by deploying a large number of helicopters.



The fire extinguishing rate was 80% as of 9 am, slightly higher than yesterday.



In some areas of Sogwang-ri, where the hundreds of years-old Geumgangsong colony is located, a dangerous situation was encountered as the flames revived overnight.



The forestry authorities are putting out 82 helicopters and 3,000 firefighters today to extinguish the wildfire in the mountainous Eungbongsan area, which has a steep mountain range.



Fortunately, the northwest wind that is not strong is blowing today, so visibility is good and there are no major difficulties in the evolution.



The authorities are planning to fight the wildfire aggressively with the support of 300 military personnel, including special forces and marines, to increase the extinguishing rate.



If the firefighting process goes well, we plan to complete the main fire extinguishing within this week.



So far, the area of ​​forest damage has been estimated to be about 23,100 hectares, about a third of the area of ​​Seoul, making it the largest ever since 1986 when related statistics were compiled.



More than 340 homes have been burned so far.