[Anchor]
A national firefighting mobilization order has been issued in South Gyeongsang Province, which has been hit by the worst drought. With reservoirs and rivers drying up, agricultural water is already in critical condition, and water for daily life is also at risk. Two hundred fire engines gathered from across the country are pouring all their efforts into emergency water supply support.
Our first report comes from reporter Kim Su-yun.
[Reporter]
Forty fire engines are packed tightly into a parking lot in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province.
Following the government's issuance of a national firefighting mobilization order yesterday evening (August 11), 200 fire engines and 400 personnel from 16 municipal and provincial fire headquarters nationwide have assembled in South Gyeongsang Province.
[Kim Young-gwan / Senior Inspector, Prevention Division, South Gyeongsang Fire Headquarters: The purpose of the national firefighting mobilization order is to overcome the limitations of regional firefighting capabilities and provide support at the national level.]
The fire engine you see behind me has the word "Hoengseong" written on it.
Fire engines gathered from all over the country, including Hoengseong in Gangwon Province and Seoul, are supplying water to the drought-hit areas in South Gyeongsang Province.
The mobilized firefighting forces have been distributed among 14 jurisdictional fire stations in South Gyeongsang Province, with the largest number—40 fire engines—deployed to Miryang, where the reservoir water level has dropped to 25%, one of the lowest rates in the country.
Firefighters are repeatedly drawing water from urban streams and other sources, moving to nearby farmland or reservoirs, and supplying the water.
[Kim Wan-gyum / Firefighter, Icheon Fire Station, Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters: After being assigned a water source for each vehicle, we pick up the water, go to the supply location, and spray it. We just kept repeating that process.]
This marks only the second time a national firefighting mobilization order has been issued due to a drought, following Gangneung last August when the reservoir water level plummeted to 13%. As a result, the Gangneung firefighters deployed for this operation felt a special sense of duty.
[Cho Seok-du / Inspector, Gangneung Fire Station, Gangwon Fire Headquarters: We left at 3 a.m. (3 a.m.?) We received a lot of help last year, so it is rewarding and wonderful to be able to pay it back. My mind feels a bit more at ease.]
Amid preliminary estimates showing damage to 2,121 hectares of farmland in South Gyeongsang Province due to the drought and heatwave, approximately 4,700 tons of water were supplied as agricultural water today alone.
[Park Sun-yi and Yoon Hye-ok / Miryang City, South Gyeongsang Province: It breaks our heart, especially in this heat. (The firefighters) keep going up and down several times a day to supply water.]
The firefighting forces mobilized from across the country will continue emergency water supply operations in various parts of South Gyeongsang Province through tomorrow.
(Video taken by: Jung Kyung-mun, Design: Lee Ga-jin, Footage provided by: Miryang City and Gimhae City)
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