The forest authorities announced that the spread of the wildfire in Uiseong, Gyeongbuk, is at its highest level in history.
Won Myeong-su, director of the National Forest Satellite Information Utilization Center, said at a press conference at the Uiseong wildfire command center on the 27th that after analyzing the thermal detection results using American satellites from the 22nd to the 25th, "While the wildfire in Gangwon's Goseong and Sokcho in 2019 spread at a rate of 5.2 km per hour, the current wildfire is at 8.2 km per hour." He added, "8.2 km per hour is faster than a person's running speed."
In response to reporters' questions about whether "the forest authorities failed to accurately predict the spread of the wildfire," he said, "We judged that the Uiseong wildfire would not reach Yeongdeok," and noted, "The strong winds, which we have not seen before in the country, greatly influenced the spread of the wildfire."
He also stated, "Uiseong County, as well as Andong City, Cheongsong County, Yeongyang County, and Yeongdeok County are classified as wildfire risk areas," and noted, "The wildfire is spreading at a very fast pace due to winds of 27 m/s."
Due to such strong wind speeds, on the 24th alone, the wildfire that was lingering near Uiseong moved 51 km to Yeongdeok in about 12 hours starting from 3 a.m. on the 25th. The straight-line distance from the spot where the Uiseong wildfire first broke out to Yeongdeok County is 79 km.
The forest authorities are analyzing that the damage from this wildfire has increased as embers carried by the wind ignited residential areas and forests.
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, as of 2 p.m. that day, the human casualties were ▲ 27 dead ▲ 8 seriously injured ▲ 22 lightly injured, totaling 57. The area affected by the wildfire is 36,009 hectares, which exceeds the damage area of 23,794 hectares recorded during the worst wildfire on the East Coast in 2000.