YEONGDEOK, South Korea– A wildfire in the southeastern coastal county of Yeongdeok was brought under control Thursday, two days after it started, after leaving a broad area the size of 560 soccer fields damaged.
According to the Korea Forest Service (KFS) and local authorities, about 40 firefighting helicopters and some 2,200 personnel were mobilized for operations to extinguish the mountain fire in Yeongdeok, about 350 kilometers southeast of Seoul, which began at around 4 a.m. Tuesday.
Choi Byeong-am, head of the KFS, said the main body of the blaze was contained at around 2:30 p.m. Firefighters were in the process of extinguishing small flames, he added.
The fire is presumed to have damaged more than 400 hectares of land, or approximately that of 560 football fields combined, forcing the evacuation of nearly 1,000 residents in nearby villages. No casualties were reported.
A total of 38 firefighting helicopters, along with 1,200 personnel, were mobilized Wednesday, but they had difficulty containing the blaze due to heavy wind and dry weather.
Fire lines were set up around the blaze to keep it from spreading further overnight. Helicopters and firefighters resumed their operations earlier in the day as soon as the sun rose.
Local officials said an initial investigation indicated the fire was first started by sparks generated when a stray piece of solar reflective film, used for agriculture, hit a utility pole. Authorities plan to conduct a detailed forensic analysis after the fire is put out entirely.
Source: Yonhap News Agency