As large wildfires continue to break out across the country, centered on South Gyeongsang and North Gyeongsang provinces, a fire of unknown origin broke out on the mountain in Jochun-ri, Cheongseong-myeon, Okcheon-gun, at 11:55 a.m. on the 23rd.
The fire spread to the nearby mountain in Busaeng-ri, Yongsan-myeon, Yeongdong-gun, prompting forest authorities to issue a level 1 wildfire response alert in the afternoon, with 8 firefighting helicopters and over 10 vehicles deployed for the firefighting efforts.
A level 1 wildfire response is issued when the anticipated damage area is less than 30 hectares and the expected firefighting time is less than 8 hours. During this time, initial response personnel from local governments, the state-run forest management office firefighting team, and helicopters from adjacent agencies are additionally deployed.
Okcheon-gun has mobilized all 150 public official firefighters. Yeongdong-gun has issued an emergency call for all public officials to respond to the wildfire and evacuated 10 residents from 6 households in Busaeng-ri to safe areas. A Yeongdong-gun official noted, “Although the wildfire has not directly come down to civilian residences, we have issued evacuation orders due to the risk of its spread.”
Due to the impact of the wildfire, as of 2:40 p.m., the Korea Expressway Corporation has blocked vehicle traffic on the Gyeongbu Expressway from Geumgang IC to Yeongdong IC heading toward Seoul.