Tearing Down Beehives and Drenched in Sweat... Responding Armed with Insecticide in Summer

[Anchor]

Even in this weather, there are people throwing themselves into even hotter scenes. They are our grateful firefighters who rush not only to disaster sites, but anywhere a helping hand is needed.

Reporter Kim su-yun accompanied firefighters through their intense day amid the scorching heat wave.

[Reporter]

Firefighters board a fire engine and dispatch.

Cutting through the scorching heat exceeding 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), they arrive at a rice paddy that has dried up due to a lack of water supply.

With practiced hands, they pull out fire hoses and spray a refreshing stream of water.

Farmers requested emergency water supply support as a severe drought overlapped with the heat wave.

[Cha Hyun-cheol / Buk-myeon, Changwon: The drought was so severe, I am so grateful. I could even bow deeply to you... I am so thankful!]

[Han Gi-hong / Buk-myeon 119 Safety Center, Changwon Fire Headquarters: Within a range that does not disrupt emergency responses, we are mobilizing fire engines to provide agricultural water as much as possible.]

Removing beehives, which surges during the summer, is another essential task.

Wearing thick protective suits, they clear away bees with insecticides and equipment.

A short while later, a paper wasp hive about half the size of a volleyball is revealed.

When taking off the protective suit, sweat streams down their necks and their shirts are completely soaked.

[Lee Won-jin / Gusan 119 Safety Center, Changwon Fire Headquarters: You can assume they are always wet. With sweat. Body temperature rises a lot and it is hot.]

I tried wearing the protective suit myself.

It has not even been 10 minutes since I put on the protective suit.

Because the hot air and sweat from the whole body cannot escape, it feels just like being inside a sauna.

Firefighters must also wear thick fire-resistant suits at fire scenes to face the flames.

In the summer, the risk of heat-related illness inevitably becomes greater than for anyone else.

[Kim Sa-hun / Jungang 119 Safety Center, Changwon Fire Headquarters: Because wind and things like that do not circulate at all, you can think of heat continuously accumulating inside your body during the summer.]

In fact, on July 30, a firefighter who extinguished a midday fire in Jindo, South Jeolla Province, was transported to a hospital suffering from symptoms of heat-related illness.

The National Fire Agency stated that it will strengthen safety management by operating a heat wave safety countermeasure headquarters and ensuring sufficient rest for frontline personnel.

(Video by Jung Kyung-moon | Video Editing by Yoon Tae-ho | Design by Kang Yoon-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.