[Anchor]

Fire engines from all over the country have gathered in Gyeongsangnam-do, where the drought is severe. They are scheduled to supply water to rice paddies and provide water for daily use over a two-day period through today (the 13th).

For our first story today, here is reporter Kim su-yun.

[Reporter]

Forty fire engines are packed tightly into a parking lot in Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do.

Following the government's issuance of a national firefighting mobilization order the night before last, 200 fire engines and 400 personnel from fire headquarters across 16 cities and provinces nationwide have converged on Gyeongsangnam-do.

[Kim Yeong-gwan / Senior Fire 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 like this.

Fire engines gathered from all over the country, including Hoengseong in Gangwon-do and Seoul, are supplying water right here at the drought sites in Gyeongsangnam-do.

The mobilized firefighting forces have been distributed among 14 regional fire stations in Gyeongsangnam-do, with the largest number—40 fire engines—deployed to Miryang, where the reservoir storage rate has dropped to 25%, the lowest level in the country.

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

[Kim Wan-gyeom / Firefighter, Icheon Fire Station, Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters: Each vehicle is assigned a water source, and then we go to receive water and come to the supply point to spray it. I think we just kept repeating that.]

Because this is only the second time a national firefighting mobilization order has been issued due to a drought—following Gangneung in August of last year, when the reservoir storage rate dropped to 13%—the Gangneung firefighters deployed to this operation felt a special sense of emotion.

[Jo Seok-du / Fire Inspector, Gangneung Fire Station, Gyeongwon Fire Headquarters: We left at 3 a.m. (3 a.m.?) We received a lot of help last year, so being able to give back like this is rewarding and feels good. My mind feels a bit more at ease.]

Amid preliminary estimates that damage has occurred across 2,121 hectares of agricultural land in Gyeongsangnam-do due to the drought and heatwave, approximately 4,700 tons of water were supplied as agricultural water yesterday alone.

[Park Seon-i and Yoon Hye-ok / Miryang City, 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 today.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
Reported by Kyungmun | Graphics by Lee Ga-jin | Footage provided by Miryang City and Gimhae City