The Danyang Police Station in North Chungcheong said on the 23rd it booked without detention an A, a man in his 80s, on suspicion of violating the Forest Disaster Prevention Act for starting a wildfire by lighting a fire in a county-owned forest late at night, and is investigating.
A is accused of starting a wildfire by setting fire to branches and fallen leaves in a county-owned forest in Jangnim-ri, Daegang-myeon, Danyang County in the early morning that day. Fire authorities who responded found A at the scene in a pit at the foot of the mountain. At the time, A had a lighter and parts of the pants were singed.
Police determined that A, who lives in Danseong-myeon, showed symptoms of dementia. Police suspect A visited Danyang-eup, then got on a bus to return but got off at the wrong stop and, while walking aimlessly, fell into a ditch next to a farm road, and lit a fire after the body temperature dropped.
A police official said that after finishing a basic investigation into A, they plan to hand the case over to the special judicial police at Danyang County Office.
The wildfire broke out at about 1:59 a.m. that day, the main flames were brought under control in about six hours, and it was extinguished at about 11:38 a.m., 9 hours and 39 minutes after it started.
No casualties were reported from the fire, but about 50 residents in the area were evacuated to a nearby senior center. The area of forest burned, provisionally tallied by Danyang County, is 3.88 hectares.