Zero Wildfire Occurrences Effort! Pohang City Holds Wildfire Prevention Citizen Safety Resolution Rally

Systematic Response by Cause of Wildfire

Focus on Public Wildfire Prevention Campaign

On the 16th, Pohang City held a 'Citizen Safety Pledge Rally for Forest Fire Prevention' at the lawn square behind Pohang Baseball Stadium to mark the autumn forest fire caution period.

On the 16th, Pohang City held a "Citizen Safety Pledge Rally for Forest Fire Prevention" at the lawn square behind Pohang Baseball Stadium to mark the autumn forest fire caution period.

At the event, about 1,000 people including 269 forest fire watchers, 50 specialized forest fire prevention and suppression teams, fire stations, volunteer fire brigades, and civic groups gathered to reaffirm their commitment to forest fire prevention and announced the start of a full-scale emergency response system for forest fire management.

The event featured ▲a demonstration of the mechanized forest fire suppression system ▲presentation of forest fire prevention measures ▲awarding of commendation plaques to forest fire contributors ▲reading and performance of the forest fire prevention pledge. Additionally, the Korea Forest Fire Prevention Technology Association conducted training to enhance citizen safety and the capabilities of forest fire watchers.

Furthermore, volunteer fire brigades, neighborhood leaders' councils, and Saemaeul associations, which require close cooperation and communication during forest fire occurrences, participated in the event, pledging to make every effort to prevent even a single forest fire during the caution period.

Pohang City is a region with a large distribution of pine forests and dry weather with little snowfall in winter, and strong spring winds along the East Coast, making it highly vulnerable to large-scale forest fires.

In particular, concerns have been raised in academia that rising temperatures due to increased carbon emissions and climate change are increasing the likelihood and intensity of forest fires. Along with last year's forest fires in Uljin and Samcheok, forest fires nationwide are becoming larger and more frequent.

Accordingly, Pohang City has improved the efficiency of forest fire suppression and monitoring personnel by completely replacing the analog radios used until last spring with digital radios to achieve forest fire zero incidents.

Moreover, the city operates a forest fire situation control system based on ICT to strengthen disaster response, and provides IoT smart helmets and GPS devices to specialized forest fire prevention and suppression teams to share real-time locations, ensuring the safety of suppression personnel. It also immediately receives video footage from forest fire sites to aid in establishing suppression strategies.

Alongside this, since about 52% of local forest fire causes stem from careless handling of fire sources such as cigarette butts and waste burning, the city conducts focused crackdowns on illegal burning activities, imposing fines, and implements systematic responses according to the causes of forest fires. It also plans to actively promote forest fire prevention to the public through forest fire reporting and information provision using the 'Smart Forest Disaster App.'

Additionally, the city has deployed one leased forest fire helicopter, six forest fire suppression vehicles, and 50 specialized forest fire prevention and suppression personnel divided into six teams to vulnerable areas, striving to establish a proactive initial response system for forest fire suppression.

Furthermore, Pohang City plans to actively respond to forest fire prevention through real-time information sharing and rapid initial cooperation with related organizations such as neighboring cities and counties including Gyeongju City, Yeongcheon City, Yeongdeok County, fire stations, the Navy Aviation Command, and the Marine Corps Division, utilizing suppression helicopters and personnel resources.

Deputy Mayor Kim Nam-il stated, “As the risk of forest fires increases due to dry autumn weather, the interest and cooperation of citizens in forest fire prevention are more important than ever,” and urged, “I hope that watchers and suppression team members will do their best in forest fire prevention and suppression with a sense of mission to protect the lives and property of citizens.”