Geochang-gun, "No Large Forest Fires in Spring"

Special Measures to Prevent Major Causes of Wildfires in Advance

Geochang-gun, Gyeongnam Province, has designated the period until April 16 as the "Special Spring Large-scale Wildfire Prevention Period" in response to the increased risk of large wildfires due to early spring and dry weather accompanied by strong winds, and will actively respond to wildfire prevention.

The county has extended the operation hours of the comprehensive wildfire prevention situation room from 6 PM to 8 PM, and to preemptively block burning-related wildfires, it is mobilizing the "Flammable Material Removal Team" to operate wood shredders and carry out agricultural and marine product shredding work.

Additionally, special crackdowns will be conducted during vulnerable wildfire prevention hours (6 PM to 9 PM), and surveillance personnel will be intensively deployed in areas with restricted mountain access and closed hiking trails to strengthen monitoring activities.

Geochang County Office, Gyeongnam.

For early detection of wildfires, a dense wildfire monitoring network is being established using 12 wildfire observation posts and 118 wildfire watchers. Even on holidays, more than one-sixth of all department staff conduct on-site inspections in the responsible towns and townships to check the readiness of wildfire watchers and whether village and vehicle publicity broadcasts are being carried out, ensuring thorough wildfire prevention.

To promote wildfire prevention, bus wrapping advertisements (Seoheung Passenger Transport) and disaster electronic display board promotional videos are being broadcast frequently. In addition, by inspecting wildfire response vehicles and backpack pumps and other firefighting equipment, the county has established a wildfire specialized prevention and suppression team’s dispatch readiness to strengthen initial response capabilities. It is also working to minimize wildfire damage by building a joint response system with related organizations and neighboring cities and counties.

Kang Sin-yeo, Director of the Forestry Division, said, "Recently, large wildfires have occurred simultaneously nationwide, and the national wildfire disaster crisis alert has been raised to the 'Warning' level, so thorough preparedness is needed more than ever." He added, "We will do our best to protect the forests of Geochang-gun through the special spring measures."