The largest wildfire in history, caused by visitors to a gravesite, was extinguished after 149 hours (6 days and 5 hours) in Uiseong County, Gyeongsangbuk-do.
Administrator Lim Chang-seop held a briefing at the incident command center in Uiseong at around 5 p.m., stating, "The wildfire that broke out in Anpyeong-myeon, Uiseong County, on the 22nd, affected Andong, Cheongsong, Yeongyang, and Yeongdeok." He also noted, "As of 2:30 p.m. today (28th), all main fires in the four areas of Uiseong, Andong, Cheongsong, and Yeongyang were extinguished, starting from Yeongdeok."
According to local governments, the main fires in five affected cities and counties were extinguished sequentially, starting with Yeongdeok and Yeongyang in the afternoon of the 28th. The rain that fell from the previous night greatly assisted the firefighting efforts.
The precipitation from the previous night to the early morning was 1.5 mm in Uiseong, 1 mm in Andong, 2 mm in Cheongsong, 3 mm in Yeongyang, and 2 mm in Yeongdeok. Although the rainfall was light, it helped eliminate the haze, facilitating firefighting efforts. The speed at which embers spread to other areas also decreased. Administrator Lim stated, "Today is the first time that helicopters for wildfire extinguishing have been deployed smoothly since the occurrence of the Uiseong wildfire."
The wildfire in Gyeongbuk broke out at around 11:24 a.m. on the 22nd in the mountains of Goesan-ri, Anpyeong-myeon, Uiseong County. It rapidly spread to Andong, Cheongsong, Yeongyang, and Yeongdeok, riding on strong winds that reached a maximum speed of 27 m/s on the 25th. The speed of the fire spread reached 8.2 km/h.
As of the morning of that day, the affected area of this wildfire that started in Uiseong was 45,157 hectares, which is about 74.6% of the area of Seoul (60,523 hectares). However, there may be some differences between the affected area and the damaged area. Administrator Lim noted, "The exact area of damage from the wildfire will be available after investigation."
Although the main fire has been extinguished, the work to extinguish the remaining embers continues. There is a possibility that the wildfire could spread again during this process. Administrator Lim said, "Once the main fire is extinguished, the local governments will focus on clearing the embers," and added, "It will take at least 2 to 3 days, and up to 5 to 6 days for complete extinction." Gyeongbuk Governor Lee Cheol-woo stated, "The leaves piled up in the mountains are deep, leaving many embers," and said, "We will not be negligent and will organize everything until the end."
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, as of 7 a.m. that day, the Gyeongbuk wildfire had resulted in 24 deaths, 4 serious injuries, and 22 minor injuries, totaling 50 casualties. The deceased included 1 person in Uiseong, 4 in Andong, 4 in Cheongdong, 6 in Yeongyang, and 9 in Yeongdeok. A total of 3,396 facilities, including 2,219 dwellings, were damaged.