Forest authorities did not anticipate that the wildfire in Uiseong, North Gyeongsang Province, would spread rapidly, driven by winds of 27 m/s, classified as 'medium' strength for typhoons, and potentially reach a village along the coast of Yeongdeok, about 90 km away.
The Korea Forest Service announced during a briefing on the afternoon of the 27th the 'thermal detection results from the U.S. Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (S-NPP satellite)' and noted, "We did not predict the spread of the wildfire to Yeongdeok under these weather conditions."
Won Myung-soo, director of the National Forest Satellite Information Utilization Center, responded to questions from reporters about whether there was an expectation of the wildfire spreading to Yeongdeok, pointing to the thermal detection results that indicated the Cheongsong area, and said, "I understand that it was predicted to extend at least to the Yeongdeok side according to the wind direction." He continued, "We did not anticipate that it would spread like this with the current system."
The Korea Forest Service analyzed that the wildfire spread at an average speed of 8.2 km/h, driven by winds of 27 m/s, which corresponds to 'medium' strength for typhoons. This wildfire has spread at the fastest rate since related analysis began.
The most damaging wildfire to date occurred in 2000 along the East Coast in Sokcho and Goseong, spreading at an average speed of 5 km/h amid winds of 33 m/s.