"Smoke confirmed."
At about 2 p.m. on the 19th, in a low mountain near Doksan Natural Park in Sillim-dong, Gwanak District, Seoul. As red mock smoke billowed up at the site of a "wildfire response resident evacuation drill," a drone shot into the sky with a whirring sound.
The drone climbed to about 150 meters in the air in an instant and turned toward the source of the smoke. When the 48-megapixel camera mounted on the aircraft began filming, the live video was transmitted to the situation room screen. The low mountain the size of a soccer field came into view at a glance, and the spot where the smoke rose was clearly captured on one side of the screen.
After confirming this, fire authorities immediately ordered a dispatch, and police at the scene guided nearby residents to evacuate. The "ICT wildfire monitoring platform" adopted by Gwanak District was used in the drill that day. Assistant Deputy Director An Jung-shin (34), who operates the system, said, "Even if a report of suspected fire comes from Yeonjudae at the summit of Gwanaksan Mountain, we can verify the site in about eight minutes."
As the spring season, when wildfires are frequent, arrives and the Korea Forest Service and local governments set a "wildfire prevention period" and restrict access to mountains, monitoring technologies combining artificial intelligence (AI) and drones have also been put into operation.
Gwanak District has been operating the ICT wildfire monitoring platform since October last year. This is the first time it has been introduced during the spring wildfire prevention period.
The ICT wildfire monitoring platform detects wildfires early using closed-circuit (CC)TV and drones. According to Gwanak District, CCTVs installed at three major ridgelines—Yeonjudae, Mojabong, and Janggunbong on Gwanaksan Mountain—film the forest around the clock. Except for areas near the Capital Defense Command and part of Miseong-dong, the CCTVs can monitor most of Gwanaksan Mountain.
When smoke or flames are captured on CCTV footage, AI automatically detects them and sends a text alert to the responsible official, and at the same time a drone takes off from Eutteum Park near Gwanaksan Station, about 3 kilometers away in a straight line.
The biggest reason for introducing the ICT wildfire monitoring platform is speed. Gwanak District, which borders Gwanaksan Mountain and Samseongsan, has about 46% of its total area covered by forest. That means it is difficult to spot wildfires early and not easy to access using human effort alone.
Previously, to confirm a fire, firefighters or wildfire spotters had to go directly to the scene. From Eutteum Park to the summit of Gwanaksan Mountain is about 4 kilometers on foot, taking close to two hours just to get there. That far exceeds the 30 minutes considered the "golden time" for wildfire suppression.
By contrast, a drone reaches the farthest point, Yeonjudae, in eight to 10 minutes in a straight line. Closer spots like Mojabong take five minutes.
Accuracy has also improved. In the past, most wildfire reports contained only the information that "there is smoke," making it hard to pinpoint the exact ignition point. There were cases where dispatched forestry and fire crews entered in the wrong direction.
Assistant Deputy Director An said, "Now we first check the scene with a drone and respond, so efficiency has greatly improved."
Even after the flames are knocked down, drones also check for remaining embers with a thermal imaging camera. To the naked eye it may look as if all the fire is out, but a thermal imaging camera can pick out spots where heat remains.
In the drill that day, a drone was redeployed after fire suppression ended. On the thermal imaging camera screen in the situation room, some sections appeared red, and firefighters who confirmed this removed the remaining embers at the scene.
Of course, a human role remains. A drone automatically flies near the suspected wildfire point, but after that it is manually piloted to inspect. That is because smoke spread, air currents, and terrain variables must be considered.
Assistant Deputy Director An said, "After the system was introduced, I obtained a drone pilot license myself," adding, "Two members of the team currently hold licenses and operate the system."
The ICT wildfire monitoring platform is currently used in four districts in Seoul, including Gwanak District. They include Suraksan in Nowon District, Cheonwangsan in Guro District, and Bukhansan Mountain in Eunpyeong District. The forestry authorities and the Seoul Metropolitan Government plan to gradually expand the areas where the ICT wildfire monitoring platform is applied.