Wildfire Disaster National Crisis Alert Raised from 'Interest' to 'Caution'

The national crisis alert for wildfire disasters has been raised from "interest" to "caution."

Forest Service wildfire suppression personnel completed extinguishing a wildfire that occurred around 1:25 PM on the 26th in Yeonhwa-ri, Iyang-myeon, Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do, within 1 hour and 20 minutes, and are now cleaning up the remaining embers. Provided by the Forest Service

On the 26th at 3 p.m., the Korea Forest Service announced that it would issue a national crisis alert at the caution level for wildfire disasters nationwide, except for some areas along the eastern coasts of Gangwon and Gyeongbuk.

According to the Korea Forest Service, most regions across the country are currently under a dry weather advisory. Due to the dry weather, a total of 16 wildfires occurred last Friday (24th: 4 cases burning 3.12 hectares) and Saturday (25th: 12 cases burning 4.36 hectares), resulting in the loss of 7.48 hectares of forest.

In particular, since there will be no rain nationwide for the time being, dry weather is expected to continue (according to the Korea Meteorological Administration's mid-term forecast), and the risk of wildfires is predicted to increase.

Accordingly, the Korea Forest Service plans to raise the national crisis alert for wildfire disasters and strengthen wildfire prevention and monitoring systems.

First, approximately 22,000 wildfire prevention personnel will be deployed to vulnerable areas, and monitoring assets will be concentrated to ensure there are no blind spots in wildfire surveillance and enforcement.

Additionally, some burning activities that were exceptionally allowed within 100 meters of forest-adjacent areas will be completely banned (effective since November 15 of last year).

Starting next month, joint inspections for illegal burning (involving agricultural administration, environment, and forestry authorities) will be conducted to block illegal burning activities, and administrative measures such as fines will be imposed on violators, according to the Korea Forest Service's plan.

Kang Hye-young, the wildfire disaster controller at the Korea Forest Service, said, "March is the month when farming activities begin in earnest," and added, "Considering that the dry weather combined with the farming season increases the risk of wildfires more than usual, we ask for active cooperation in wildfire prevention by strictly prohibiting burning activities and managing fire sources at work sites."