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| Residents of Gangneung watch a house burn down on Tuesday as a forest fire spreads through their neighborhood. Yonhap |
Fire extinguished in 8 hours helped by rain
By Ko Dong-hwan
A wildfire raged through Korea's eastern coastal city of Gangneung, Tuesday, amid gusty winds and arid conditions, destroying over 100 structures, including around 40 homes, and displacing over 1,000 people. Firefighters and emergency workers extinguished the flames in the evening, some eight hours after the blaze began.
The fire burned about 379 hectares of mountainous areas, which is the size of almost 530 football fields, while 40 homes, 28 resort pensions and three hotels were damaged, forcing over 550 residents and over 700 lodgers to evacuate. Banghaejung, a preserved traditional Korean house from the Joseon Dynasty and the country's tangible cultural asset No. 50, was also partially burned.
A man in his 80s was found dead in his home in Anhyun-dong in eastern Gangneung which flanks the East Sea.
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The conflagration is presumed to have started from a spark by an electric wire at an electric pole which was accidentally cut by a fallen tree branch, according to the authorities. It started on a hill in Gangneung's Nangok-dong area at about 8:20 a.m., some two kilometers away from the east coast.
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| In this screen capture from a video recorded in Gangneung on Tuesday, a beach near a local resort hotel is engulfed in smoke from a forest fire. Yonhap |
Earlier the day, President Yoon Suk Yeol, in response to the fire that was rapidly spreading across the city in Gangwon Province, ordered the country's central forest service and fire department to spare no equipment and manpower to extinguish the fire. He also ordered the authorities to prioritize evacuating local residents from the city to minimize casualties.
Students in Gangneung were evacuated from their schools or were sent home early due to the fire.
The fire grew uncontrollably in a short period of time, because of the heavy gusts that swept over the entire country. The Korea Meteorological Administration said Gangwon Province in particular saw winds reaching 90 kilometers per hour and even 110 kilometers per hour in the mountains. They said the province's atmosphere was very dry and extremely susceptible to forest fires. Other regions also saw heavy gusts reach speeds of up to 110 kilometers per hour.
Firefighting helicopters were all grounded due to the strong winds. Gangwon Province Governor Kim Jin-tae said it was "very dangerous to send off those choppers under these weather conditions."
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| A firefighter sprays water on a fire from the roof of a residential home in Gangneung, Tuesday, after a forest fire erupted earlier in the day. Yonhap |
Four helicopters and over 2,300 firefighters were dispatched to fight the blaze. The helicopters were previously halted by the gusts, delaying efforts by the authorities to deal with the disaster. Korea Forest Service Minister Nam Sung-hyun said earlier Tuesday that 10 helicopters were on stand-by and will take off once the winds calm.
With the Taebaek Mountain Range running down vertically along the eastern region of the Korean Peninsula like a wall, the country's eastern coastal regions have been prone to strong wind currents between the mountain range and the East Sea. Because of such conditions, the region saw more forest fires than any other area of the country.
According to the presidential office, the president ordered the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to monitor local municipalities across the country for any signs of wildfires that might spread to a wider area due to the strong winds.
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