"Average Age of Wildfire Fighters is 65, Some in Their 90s"...Aging Issue is Serious

"Wildfires Are Becoming Larger...
Safety Training for Suppression Teams Is Needed"

Amid the deaths of firefighting personnel caused by simultaneous wildfires nationwide, Hwang Jeong-seok, director of the Wildfire Prevention Policy Research Institute, expressed concern that "there is a high possibility that the fire could spread from Uiseong-gun, Gyeongbuk, all the way to the sea, crossing the central inland region to the East Sea."

On the 24th, Director Hwang explained on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' that "wildfires occurring in the Yeongdong region move toward the East Sea, so the maximum distance does not exceed 10 km," but "in areas like Uiseong-gun, where the altitude is low, the wildfire spreads very quickly."

Regarding the accident on the 21st in which three wildfire suppression team members and one public official from Changnyeong-gun, who were dispatched to extinguish a fire in Sancheong-gun, Gyeongnam, lost their lives, he pointed out that "structural problems in South Korea's wildfire response system are being revealed." Director Hwang said, "Wildfires are reported to the fire department, but the extinguishing is managed by the Korea Forest Service," adding, "The forest is a support institution that supplies water to wildfire suppression teams or protects facilities."

On the 22nd, a firefighter was extinguishing a fire at a factory building where a wildfire had spread in Jungniri, Uiseong-eup, Uiseong-gun, Gyeongbuk. Photo by Yonhap News

He stated, "Wildfire suppression team members are temporarily hired for 3 to 5 months on a fixed-term basis," and "They are employed by local governments and the Korea Forest Service's wildfire suppression teams as part of job creation projects, so the age group is very elderly. The average age is over 65, and there are even people in their 90s, making aggressive initial response difficult physically and for various other reasons." The deceased wildfire suppression team members from Changnyeong-gun were all in their 60s.

He also emphasized the training process for suppression team members, saying, "The Korea Forest Service has been operating the training program for suppression team members since 2013, but most of the instructors are retired general public officials from the Korea Forest Service," and stressed, "When wildfires become large-scale like these days, safety education needs to be specialized and professionalized." Director Hwang expressed regret, saying, "There were no real fire drills like those conducted by the fire department, nor was related equipment provided, and people who could not handle it physically were deployed to the field. It is truly unfortunate," and added, "Could the responsible department not have foreseen this?"

Meanwhile, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the same day, a total area of 7,778.61 hectares, equivalent to 10,894 soccer fields, was damaged by large and small wildfires occurring nationwide since the 21st, including in Uiseong-gun, Gyeongbuk, and Sancheong-gun, Gyeongnam.