Hamyang Wildfire Brought Under Control After 44 Hours of Battle ... Damage Estimated at 234 Hectares

A firefighter is carrying out firefighting operations at a wildfire site in Changwon-ri, Macheon-myeon, Hamyang-gun, Gyeongnam. Provided by Gyeongnam Province

The wildfire that broke out at 9:14 p.m. on the 21st in Changwon-ri, Macheon-myeon, Hamyang-gun, Gyeongnam Province, was brought under control after 44 hours.

According to the Central Disaster Response Headquarters of the Korea Forest Service, as of 5 p.m. on the 23rd, three days after the wildfire started, the main fire suppression rate had reached 100%.

The area affected by the wildfire is estimated at 234 hectares, equivalent to about 340 soccer fields, and the authorities are investigating the cause of the fire.

One vinyl greenhouse was completely destroyed in the wildfire, and 134 residents, including those from the nearby Songjeon Village, evacuated to the Eoullim Gymnasium in Yurim-myeon, but there were no human casualties.

For the firefighting operation, all available resources from the Korea Forest Service, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, Hamyang-gun County, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of National Defense, the National Fire Agency, the National Police Agency, the Korea Meteorological Administration, and the Korea National Park Service were fully mobilized, including a total of 115 wildfire suppression helicopters, 250 pieces of equipment such as firefighting vehicles, and a cumulative total of 1,600 firefighting personnel.

The Korea Forest Service explained that firefighting efforts were hampered by a combination of meteorological and topographical factors, including strong winds with instantaneous maximum speeds of over 20 meters per second, dry weather, a thick layer of fallen leaves, and steep rocky slopes.

It added that, as embers spread rapidly on strong winds immediately after the outbreak, the authorities successively issued Wildfire Spread Response Level 1 at 4 a.m. on the 22nd and Wildfire Spread Response Level 2 at 8:30 p.m. on the 22nd, and, at 10 p.m. on the 22nd, preemptively transferred unified on-site command authority for the wildfire from the head of Hamyang-gun County to the acting Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service.

In particular, to protect villages and prevent further spread of the wildfire, 36,000 liters of wildfire retardant (retardant) were dropped by wildfire suppression helicopters.

Park Eunsik, acting Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service, said, "Even after the main fire has been completely extinguished, we will switch to a system focused on mopping up residual fires and monitoring for rekindling, and manage the situation thoroughly until the wildfire is fully over," and urged, "As dry weather and strong winds continue nationwide, we ask all citizens to exercise special caution to prevent wildfires."