The wildfire that broke out on a hillside in Sicheon-myeon, Sancheong-gun, Gyeongnam on the 21st was extinguished after ten days.
The Korea Forest Service and Gyeongnam Province announced on the 30th at around 1 p.m. that the Sancheong wildfire was put out after 213 hours.
A total of 50 firefighting helicopters, 213 firefighting vehicles, and 1,473 personnel were mobilized to battle the blaze.
Wildfire site in Sicheon-myeon, Sancheong-gun, Gyeongnam Province. Video provided by Korea Forest Service
The fire burned an area of about 1,858 hectares, equivalent to 2,602 soccer fields, and destroyed 28 houses, 2 factories, 2 religious facilities, and 84 other facilities including cultural assets.
Four people, including three wildfire suppression crew members from Changnyeong-gun and one supervising public official, lost their lives while fighting the fire, and five others sustained serious injuries, with another five suffering minor injuries.
As the fire spread to Sancheong, Hadong, and Jirisan, 2,158 residents evacuated their homes, and 528 are currently staying in shelters.
Gyeongnam Province plans to assign dedicated public officials to support the families of the deceased and the injured, providing swift administrative assistance.
Additionally, the province will actively support residents affected by the wildfire, including providing an emergency disaster relief fund of 300,000 won per person, fully funded by the province, to residents of Sicheon-myeon and Samjang-myeon in Sancheong-gun and Okjong-myeon in Hadong-gun, which suffered the most damage.
Furthermore, the province will continue to offer medical and psychological support such as operating on-site emergency medical centers, patient monitoring, and disaster psychological services, and plans to provide village-level psychological support through the Mind Relief Bus even after the shelters close.
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