Forest authorities resumed the firefighting operations at Hamji Mountain in Buk-gu, Daegu, as the sun rose on the morning of the 29th. The forest authorities set a goal to extinguish the main fire that day.
According to the forest authorities, as of 6 a.m. that day, the firefighting rate at Hamji Mountain was 65%. The affected area by the wildfire was estimated to be 252 hectares, and of the total fire line of 11.8 kilometers, the sections where the flames have not been controlled are 4.1 kilometers.
Simultaneously with the sunrise that day, the forest authorities are deploying 52 firefighting helicopters, 1,551 personnel, and 205 pieces of equipment sequentially to the wildfire site in Hamji Mountain, including Nogok-dong and Joyang-dong in Buk-gu, Daegu.
Currently, a northeast wind of less than 1 meter per second is blowing at the wildfire site. It is forecasted that a west wind with an average speed of 1 to 4 meters per second will start blowing from 8 a.m. Currently, the wind has lessened somewhat compared to the previous day, creating favorable conditions for firefighting operations. The extent of the wildfire's spread is expected to be assessed around 10 a.m. that day.
The wildfire broke out in Nogok-dong at 2:01 p.m. the previous day. Due to the wildfire, the North Daegu Interchange on the Gyeongbu Expressway, near Hamji Mountain, was blocked from entering and exiting both directions since 4 p.m. the previous day, but traffic resumed from 6:30 a.m. that day.
Due to this wildfire, among 6,500 residents from 3,514 households in Nogok-dong, Joyang-dong, Seobyun-dong, and Guam-dong near Hamji Mountain, 661 people were evacuated to five schools, including Paldal Elementary School, Maechun Elementary School, Yeonggyeong Elementary School, Dongpyeong Elementary School, and Dongbyeon Middle School.
The forest authorities transitioned to a nighttime response system after sunset the previous day and continued firefighting operations. A total of 1,515 personnel, including 2 Surion helicopters from the aerial firefighting team and special firefighting teams for wildfire disasters, and 398 pieces of high-performance firefighting vehicles were deployed overnight.
The forest authorities noted that "the spread of the wildfire was rapid due to dry weather," and added, "There were difficulties in the nighttime firefighting as we continued our operations while clearing paths in rough terrain without access roads." They emphasized, "We are putting all our efforts into extinguishing the main fire."