South Korea: Hundreds forced to evacuate after wildfire in a seaside city

Over 500 residents of South Korea’s eastern coastal city of Gangneung had to be evacuated, on Tuesday (April 11) after a wildfire fueled by strong winds and dry weather began on a mountain, said the officials. Dozens of homes have been destroyed, as per media reports, while the Korea Forest Service said firefighters have extinguished around 88 per cent of the fire, as of 3:30 pm (local time).

More than 1,410 firefighters, 200 vehicles and six helicopters were dispatched in a bid to put out the blaze, saidofficials, as per local media reports. There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths. Meanwhile, around 70 homes and other buildings have reportedly been destroyed while nearly 300 residents were evacuated to facilities that included an ice-skating arena and a middle school gym.

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The fire began early Monday, around 8:30 am (local time), the officials have also speculated that the wildfire may have been caused by a wind-damaged pine tree touching an electric wire before spreading to the nearby forest, reported the South Korean news agency, Yonhap. According to the Gangwon Provincial GovernorKim Jin-tae the fire has also seemingly slowed by rain that began in the afternoon.

So far, the fire has engulfed 103 hectares of woodland which isthe equivalent of 144 football fields including at least 28 homes, 12 pension houses and four hotel buildings, as per Yonhap. Additionally, the officials have also evacuated some 700 tourists staying in nearby accommodations as a precautionary measure.

Early Tuesday, the coastal city experienced typhoon-class strong winds which reportedly worsened the situation and also hampered efforts to bring the wildfire under control with water-bombing aircraft unable to take off due to the winds. As of Tuesday afternoon, The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said winds in the Gangneung area were blowing as strongas 103 kilometres per hour.

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The city which is home to over 200,000 people is around 170 kilometres away from the capital Seoul. The KMA has also issued a strong wind advisory in other regions across the country attributing the unusual weather conditions to the Korean Peninsula being located between high pressure to the south and low pressure to the north.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has asked officials to mobilise all available resources “equipment and personnel” to control and extinguish the wildfire as soon as possible and quickly evacuate nearby residents to minimise casualties, said the presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon.

(With inputs from agencies)

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