Fire crews are continuing to fight South Korea’s worst wildfire outbreak in history which has left 28 people dead, triggered the evacuation of nearly 40,000 people, and has burned nearly 40,000 hectares (99,000 acres).
Korea Forest Service Chief Lim Sang-seop on Thursday gave an update on the fires that have been burning throughout the nation since last Friday. He said the service had deployed thousands of firefighters, along with aerial and ground firefighting units.
The deaths have included firefighters, including a pilot in a firefighting helicopter who died when his aircraft crashed in a mountain area, officials said.
Sang-seop said crews have an uphill battle ahead. Less than 5mm of rain (0.2 inches) fell in some regions on Thursday, and only 1mm was forecast for Friday. The overall containment and extinguishment rate of the fires sit at around 60%.
“We will do our utmost to prevent the spread of forest fires…We will do our utmost to prevent damage to firefighters and local residents…We will do our utmost to prevent damage to property,” Sang-seop said at the press conference.
Research published last year in the “Agricultural and Forest Meteorology” scientific journal found recent “unprecedented” wildfires across Korea are part of an increasing wildfire activity trend across the region. Korea’s climate regime has reportedly shifted from cold and wet to warm and dry winters, along with a 4°C (7°F) increase in temperature, an 8% decrease in relative humidity, and a 17mm (0.7 inches) decrease in precipitation.
“Dry winter weather has become increasingly severe, resulting in extreme drought in winter 2021 and early spring 2022, with the (fire weather indices) calculations revealing great potential dangers from fires,” the researchers said. “This study highlights that climate change may make forests more vulnerable to fire in temperate and mid-latitude monsoon-affected regions, where large-scale wildfires were not previously a concern.”
