Haenam-gun Creates Economic Value of Over 600 Million Won Through Spring Wildfire Prevention

Achieving Zero Wildfires by the End of May, Yielding Proactive Wildfire Prevention Effects

Haenam-gun is conducting a joint wildfire suppression drill. (Photo by Haenam-gun)

[Haenam＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] Jeonnam Haenam-gun has declared this year as the inaugural year of ‘Zero Preventable Burning Wildfires,’ and it has been confirmed that not a single wildfire occurred until the end of the spring caution period on the 31st of last month.

According to the county on the 3rd, the total number of wildfire damages over the past five years was 65 cases, averaging 13 cases per year, with 24.87 hectares (an average of 4.98 hectares) of forest area damaged by wildfires.

This is an economic damage scale of at least 600 million KRW, calculated by considering the public function evaluation value per hectare and the cost of firefighting resources suggested by the National Institute of Forest Science. Achieving zero wildfires this year means there has been no economic damage caused by wildfires at all.

Haenam-gun has operated a wildfire prevention countermeasure situation room until the end of last month and implemented comprehensive wildfire prevention measures to achieve zero wildfires. Before the start of the wildfire-prone spring season, a specialized wildfire prevention and suppression team was permanently deployed in each town and township, and all 514 villages in the jurisdiction participated in the Green Village Campaign without burning wildfires, focusing all efforts on proactive wildfire prevention administration.

Additionally, efforts were made to autonomously lead wildfire prevention through community and resident participation, such as a wildfire prevention SNS campaign involving residents, and non-face-to-face wildfire prevention education for about 5,200 students at 35 schools in cooperation with related organizations such as the education office, moving beyond the traditional enforcement-oriented wildfire prevention.

County Governor Myeong Hyun-gwan said, “I thank the residents who actively participated in wildfire prevention and related organizations such as the fire station and education office,” and added, “Since 43.3% of Haenam-gun’s total area is forest, we will devote all efforts to proactive response activities to fundamentally block wildfires.”