The Wildfire Spread from the West to the Eastern Edge of Yeongdeok in Just Two Hours
Elderly Residents with Limited Mobility Carried to Safety during Evacuation
On the 1st, residents of Gyeongjeong 3-ri dock in Chuksan-myeon, Yeongdeok-gun, Gyeongbuk, expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the 'unsung heroes' amid the wildfire crisis.
Yonhap News reported that village chief Kim Pil-gyeong (56), fishing cooperative leader Yoo Myeong-shin (56), and foreign crew member Sugi Anto (31) woke up many villagers and helped them evacuate during the wildfire.
Earlier, the wildfire that started in Uiseong on the 22nd of last month spread through Andong and Cheongsong, reaching the western boundary of Yeongdeok around 6 p.m. on the 25th of last month.
Yeongdeok-gun officially announced at 5:54 p.m. on the 25th that the wildfire had spread to Hwangjang-ri, Jipum-myeon. It took only about two hours for the fire to spread approximately 25 km eastward to Gyeongjeong 3-ri in Chuksan-myeon.
As the wildfire spread, electricity and communications were paralyzed, so few residents knew exactly when the fire reached their area. However, around 7:40 p.m., thick smoke was visible outside, and many residents believed the fire had reached the village by around 8 p.m. At that time, most of the approximately 60 villagers were either staying at home or already asleep.
However, Village Chief Kim Pil-gyeong went to the right side of the dock, Cooperative Leader Yoo Myeong-shin to the left, and Indonesian crew member Sugi Anto to the center to wake up and evacuate the villagers. They came outside after sensing something was wrong and confirmed the wildfire.
Chief Kim said, "Even though we broadcasted to come out quickly, people did not respond, so the three of us shouted together to wake them up or get them outside."
Indonesian national Sugi Anto (31), who has been working as a crew member here since entering the country eight years ago, was fluent enough in Korean to call the elderly women "halmae," the Gyeongsang-do dialect for grandmother, and together with village fishing cooperative leader Yoo Myeong-shin, shouted, "Grandma, there is a fire on the mountain. You need to evacuate quickly," as they went around waking people up.
However, since houses were densely packed on the coastal slopes, it was difficult for the elderly to move quickly. Therefore, the two carried the elderly on their backs and moved them about 300 meters to the breakwater.
Leo, another Indonesian working in the same village as Sugi Anto, also contributed to rescuing residents. With his broken Korean, he shouted "halmae" to help with the evacuation.
Captain Im Cheong-gil (57), who commands the boat Leo is on, said, "These friends (foreign crew members) were also surprised in their own way," adding, "They said to each other, 'Let's go, let's go,' and brought the grandmothers along."
He continued, "These friends also pay resident taxes to Yeongdeok-gun, so the government should support them," and added, "We are all worried about making ends meet since we cannot work now, and their payday is just around the corner, so we are concerned."
Thanks to their efforts, the evacuated residents fled to the end of the breakwater by car or on foot as the fire engulfed the village. The scene was filled with intense heat from the flames, thick smoke, and flying embers.
The residents urgently contacted the Coast Guard while hiding between the concrete blocks of the breakwater or inside their cars.
The Coast Guard contacted Jeon Dae-heon (52), who is active as a civilian rescue leader in Chuksan-myeon, to rescue the residents. Jeon, along with other juniors and staff, arrived at the scene by driving a leisure boat and a fishing vessel. At that time, the residents were on the breakwater, making it impossible to dock the boats.
Jeon happened to see a small truck with keys in the ignition at the dock. He drove it to the breakwater, picked up about 10 residents, and brought them back to the dock.
Then, he transferred the residents to the fishing boat using his own boat and repeated this once more, boarding about 20 people on the fishing boat and entering Chuksan Port. Most of the remaining residents were moved to Chuksan Port with the help of the Uljin Coast Guard.
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