<기사제목>Forest Service Chief: "Hapcheon Wildfire Main Fire Expected to Be Contained by Morning of the 9th at the Earliest"

Evolution Rate at 50% as of 9 PM

Nam Seong-hyun, the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service, held a briefing at the wildfire situation room in Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongnam Province on the 8th, stating, "If there are no major variables such as smoke and fog, we expect the large fire to be contained by the 9th." As of 9 PM that day, the containment rate of the Hapcheon wildfire was at 50%.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Commissioner Nam said, "Currently, specialized personnel with extensive experience in nighttime wildfire suppression, including aerial firefighting teams and special suppression units under the Forest Aviation Headquarters, have been deployed to fully concentrate on extinguishing the wildfire." He added, "Once daylight comes, we will deploy 35 helicopters and mobilize all firefighting equipment to quickly control the flames."

He explained, "The wind speed reached up to 12 meters per second, making suppression efforts difficult. The strong winds caused the fire to spread rapidly."

Due to the wildfire that occurred that day, 214 residents from six nearby villages evacuated to local community centers and other safe locations. So far, no casualties have been reported. Previously, authorities had established defensive lines with fire trucks and other equipment early on to prevent the fire from spreading to residential areas. Additionally, the forestry authorities believe the likelihood of further fire spread is low.

The transmission tower located at the wildfire site was reported to be undamaged. Commissioner Nam stated that, in cooperation with Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), they took measures to cut power to the transmission lines and supply electricity through alternate routes.

The Hapcheon wildfire started around 1:59 PM that day in the hills of Wolpyeong-ri, Yongju-myeon. As of the same time, the affected wildfire area was estimated at 139 hectares, with remaining fire lines approximately 4 kilometers long.