Wildfire Continues for 8th Day ... 93% Contained, 5km of Fire Line Remain "Welcoming the Rain"

A member of the wildfire suppression team is controlling flying embers spread by the wind at a forest fire site in Sicheon-myeon, Sancheong-gun, Gyeongnam. Provided by Korea Forest Service

On the eighth day since the outbreak, the wildfire containment rate in Sicheon-myeon, Sancheong-gun, Gyeongnam has reached 93% as of noon on the 28th.

The wildfire-affected area has expanded to include Sancheong, Hadong, and the Jirisan National Park area, covering 1,785 hectares, with a total fire line of 70 kilometers, about 5 kilometers remaining.

Although less than 0.1 mm of light rain fell in Sancheong-eup and Sicheon-myeon at one point the previous afternoon, the increased humidity has reportedly helped slow the spread of the wildfire.

So far, 1,640 residents from Sancheong and Hadong have been evacuated, and there have been 13 casualties, including 4 deaths and 9 injuries during the firefighting operation.

Overnight, two facilities, including a greenhouse and a warehouse in the Hadong area, were burned, raising the total number of damaged facilities such as homes, factories, and religious buildings to 74.

Currently, with winds of up to 4 to 7 meters per second blowing at the site, 43 helicopters, 1,532 firefighting personnel, and 234 firefighting vehicles were redeployed at sunrise and are making all-out efforts to contain the fire.

On the previous night, in order to prevent the wildfire from spreading to the Deoksansa and Gwaneumsa areas within Jirisan National Park, 240 pieces of equipment, including 10 water tankers and 182 fire trucks, along with 1,230 firefighting personnel, were deployed, and 25 national park patrol monitors were stationed.