As the wildfire that broke out in Uiseong, North Gyeongsang Province, on the 23rd continues into its second day, the wildfire extinguishment rate was recorded at 4.8% as of 5 a.m. today.
The affected area of the Uiseong wildfire is 950 hectares. Only 2 kilometers of the total 41 kilometers of the fire line has been successfully extinguished. The remaining 39 kilometers are still being extinguished. This is because the primary equipment for controlling the flames, firefighting helicopters, cannot be deployed at night. Additionally, dry and windy weather conditions are making it difficult to control the flames.
A total of 1,356 personnel, including special firefighting units, forestry officials, firefighters, police, and volunteer fire brigades, have been deployed to the fire site, along with 124 firefighting vehicles. Authorities are deploying over 50 helicopters for firefighting around sunrise at 6:30 a.m.
The fire started when a visitor to a grave site accidentally caused a blaze while tidying up the cemetery. The visitor directly reported the fire to 119. The Korea Forest Service issued a level 3 wildfire alert around 2:10 p.m., approximately 2 hours and 46 minutes after the fire broke out at 11:24 a.m. on the 23rd in a mountain area of Goesan-ri, Anpyeong-myeon, Uiseong County.
A level 3 wildfire alert is issued when the estimated damage area is between 100 hectares and 3,000 hectares, sustained winds exceed 11 meters per second, and the extinguishment time is expected to be less than 24 to 48 hours.