Fire Engines Gather Nationwide for Worst Drought... All-Out Support Through Today

[Anchor]

Fire engines from all across the country have gathered in South Gyeongsang Province, which is suffering from severe drought. They plan to supply water to rice paddies and for daily use over a two-day period through today, August 13.

For our first news today, reporter Kim su-yun has the details.

[Reporter]

Some 40 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 the evening before yesterday, 200 fire engines and 400 personnel from 16 municipal and provincial fire headquarters nationwide have assembled in South Gyeongsang Province.

[Kim Young-gwan / Prevention Division, South Gyeongsang Fire Headquarters (Senior Fire Inspector): 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 visible behind me has the word "Hoengseong" written on it like this.

Fire engines gathered from all over the country, including Hoengseong in Gangwon Province and Seoul, are supplying water here in the drought-hit areas of South Gyeongsang Province.

The mobilized firefighting forces have been distributed among 14 jurisdiction fire stations in South Gyeongsang Province, with the largest number of 40 fire engines deployed to Miryang, where the reservoir storage rate has dropped to 25%, the lowest level in the nation.

Firefighters are repeatedly drawing water from urban streams and other sources, moving to nearby agricultural land or reservoirs, and supplying the water.

[Kim Wan-gyum / Icheon Fire Station, Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters (Firefighter): After being assigned a water source for each vehicle, we pump the water, come to the water supply destination, and spray it. We've just been repeating this process.]

This marks the second time a national firefighting mobilization order has been issued due to drought, following Gangneung last August when the reservoir water level plummeted to 13 percent. Because of this, Gangneung firefighters deployed to this operation felt a special sense of duty.

[Cho Seok-du / Gangneung Fire Station, Gangwon Fire Headquarters (Fire Inspector): We left at 3 a.m. (3 a.m.?) We received a lot of help last year, so it is rewarding and nice to be able to return the favor. My mind feels a bit more at ease.]

While damage has been tentatively tallied across 2,121 hectares of agricultural land in South Gyeongsang Province due to the drought and heatwave, approximately 4,700 tons of water were supplied as agricultural water yesterday alone.

[Park Sun-i and Yoon Hye-ok / Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province: It breaks our heart. 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 carry out emergency water supply support operations in various parts of South Gyeongsang Province through today.

(Photo: Yonhap News / Video by Jung Kyung-mun, Design: Lee Ga-jin, Footage provided by Miryang City and Gimhae City)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.