"4,700 Tons a Day"... 200 Fire Engines and 400 Personnel Mobilized

[Anchor]

A national firefighting mobilization order has been issued in Gyeongsangnam-do, which has been hit by the worst drought. With reservoirs and rivers drying up, agricultural water is already critically scarce, and household water supplies are also facing a dangerous situation. 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, Gyeongsangnam-do.

Following the government issuing a national firefighting mobilization order on the evening of the 11th, 200 fire engines and 400 personnel from fire headquarters across 16 cities and provinces nationwide have converged on Gyeongsangnam-do.

[Kim Young-gwan / Senior Inspector, Prevention Division, Gyeongnam 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-do and Seoul, are supplying water here in the drought-stricken areas of Gyeongsangnam-do.

The mobilized firefighting resources have been distributed across 14 jurisdiction fire stations in Gyeongsangnam-do, with the largest number—40 fire engines—deployed to Miryang, where the reservoir storage rate has dropped to 25%, one of the lowest levels in the country.

Firefighters repeatedly pump water from urban streams and other sources, move to nearby agricultural land or reservoirs, and supply the water.

[Kim Wan-gyum / Firefighter, Icheon Fire Station, Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters: Each vehicle is assigned a water source, after which we receive water, come to the supply destination, and spray the water. I think 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 storage rate plummeted to 13%. As a result, the Gangneung firefighters deployed for this operation felt a special sense of duty.

[Jo Seok-du / Fire Inspector, Gangneung Fire Station, Gangwon Fire Headquarters: We departed at 3 a.m. (3 a.m.?) We received a lot of help last year, so it is rewarding and meaningful to be able to pay it back. My mind feels a bit more at ease.]

With damage preliminarily estimated across 2,121 hectares of agricultural land in Gyeongsangnam-do due to the combined effects of drought and heatwaves, approximately 4,700 tons of water were supplied solely for agricultural use today.

[Park Sun-i and Yoon Hye-ok / Miryang-si, Gyeongsangnam-do: 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 Gyeongsangnam-do through tomorrow.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video Reporter: Kyungmun, Design: Lee Ga-jin, Footage Provided by: Miryang-si and Gimhae-si)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.