5 Wildfires in Less Than a Week amid Severe Drought and Water Shortages

[Anchor]

As prolonged scorching heat dries out mountains and fields, the risk of summer wildfires is growing. Not only is firefighting difficult amid extreme heat, but compounding droughts have left even a shortage of water to put out the flames.

KNN reporter Jung Gi-hyung has the story.

[Reporter]

Smoke rises from a mountain in Hamyang-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do.

Fortunately, a wildfire suppression helicopter was dispatched immediately, and the fire was extinguished.

Believed to have been caused by negligence, residents were left startled by the untimely summer wildfire.

[Cho Mi-jung / Hamyang-eup, Hamyang-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do : I was really shocked, worrying that it might spread again like previous incidents in Sancheong or Macheon (in Hamyang). The fires there were massive, so I was very worried.]

Another fire broke out on a mountain in Anui-myeon, Hamyang-gun, on the afternoon of the 7th.

Earlier this month, fields in Sangnam-myeon, Miryang, burned down, following another wildfire in Miryang half a month prior.

While there were only 8 wildfires nationwide during the entire month of August last year, 5 have already broken out in less than a week this year.

Severe heatwaves and droughts have left dry grass and fallen leaves piled up in fields and mountains, increasing the likelihood of fires spreading significantly.

In Miryang, which is experiencing the worst drought in Gyeongsangnam-do, cumulative rainfall last month was less than 20 percent of normal levels.

Consequently, both mountains and fields are thoroughly parched.

[Chun In-soo / Wildfire Management Officer, Forest Management Division, Gyeongsangnam-do Provincial Government : The upper parts of the trees have relatively acceptable moisture retention rates, so the fires do not expand significantly to the canopy. However, a lot of smoke is generated from surface fires, causing them to burn through and spread rapidly.]

Wind speeds are lower than in spring and winter, reducing the probability of them turning into large-scale wildfires.

However, firefighting operations themselves are grueling amid the heatwave, compounded by water shortages caused by the drought.

[Nam Ki-hoon / Professor, Department of Fire and Disaster Protection, Inje University : In dry conditions, if it becomes difficult to supply water from nearby sources, it creates the drawback of requiring a significant amount of time to suppress wildfires.]

As the risks of untimely summer wildfires escalate alongside heatwaves and droughts, residents living near wooded areas are growing increasingly anxious.

(Photo: Korea Forest Service & Gyeongsangnam-do Fire Headquarters | Video by Kwon Yong-guk / KNN | Video Editing by Kim Bum-jun / KNN)

Jung Gi-hyung, KNN
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.