Emergency Response to Large-Scale Forest Fires Amid Nationwide Spread
Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province (Governor Seo Tae-won) has launched an emergency response to prevent large-scale forest fires in spring.
Gapyeong-gun is holding an emergency inspection meeting on the 26th at the county office disaster situation room to strengthen wildfire prevention and response. Provided by Gapyeong-gun
According to Gapyeong-gun on the 27th, the county held an emergency inspection meeting on the 26th at the county office disaster situation room to strengthen forest fire prevention and response. The meeting was attended by 18 people, including Vice Governor Kim Mi-seong, the head of the Forestry Division, team leaders of practical departments, and industrial team leaders of towns and townships.
This meeting was arranged under the urgent directive of Governor Seo Tae-won to respond to the recent nationwide spread of forest fires. Governor Seo said, “Considering the geographical characteristics of Gapyeong-gun, which has a large forest area, we must block forest fires in advance and establish a rapid response system in case of emergency,” and added, “Please strengthen the field-centered response system and do your best to protect the safety and property of the residents.”
To enhance the effectiveness of forest fire response, the county decided at the meeting to assign more specific roles to each department and carry out thorough responses. Accordingly, the Forestry Division will strengthen forest fire prevention publicity and regularly inspect forest roads and firefighting equipment. Firefighting personnel will be thoroughly trained to wear safety equipment, including masks and safety shoes, and their on-site response capabilities will be improved.
The Agricultural Policy Division and Environmental Policy Division will strengthen on-site guidance on agricultural residues to prevent illegal burning and minimize forest fire risk factors by early joint shredding of farming by-products. In addition, they plan to conduct intensive crackdowns on illegal burning activities during weekends and around sunset, and thoroughly inspect the charcoal and ash disposal status at campsites and pensions.
The Tourism Division will strengthen crackdowns on hiking trails and around cemeteries to prevent arson caused by visitors and mountain climbers, and the Safety and Disaster Division will support delivering real-time fire information to residents and hikers through village broadcasts.
The Welfare Policy Division and Health Center will establish evacuation plans for vulnerable facilities such as nursing hospitals and facilities for the disabled, and check whether internal training has been conducted and the conditions for on-site response.
Each town and township industrial team will cooperate with the local autonomous disaster prevention group to strengthen illegal burning monitoring by village and also carry out forest fire prevention publicity activities targeting residents.
Vice Governor Kim Mi-seong said, “Due to the characteristics of Gapyeong-gun, where many areas are adjacent to forests, forest fires are disasters beyond simple fires,” and added, “We will block forest fire risk factors in advance through interdepartmental cooperation and focus all efforts on protecting the lives and property of residents through rapid response when situations occur.”
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