Wildfires spread in S. Korea amid strong winds over weekend

Wildfires here that began late last week took the lives of four people including firefighters and forced over two thousand people to flee.

What's more unrelenting winds have been hindering efforts to ease the blaze.

Our Choi Soo-hyung has the latest.

Houses completely burned down, with collapsed roofs and blackened walls.

In Sancheong-gun County, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, the whole of Oegong Village was covered in smoke over the weekend, and six houses were destroyed.

"The fire sparks were flying in all directions. With strong winds in the afternoon, the fire spread across the river."

The wildfire started last Friday afternoon on a hillside in Sancheong-gun County and spread rapidly due to strong winds.

Three firefighters and one government official from Changnyeong-gun County died while fighting the fire, and the county has declared a mourning period until March 27th.

It is reported that it seems they were trapped while clearing embers on the mountainside as shifting winds reignited the flames.

An area of around 14 square kilometers, about the size of 1,900 football fields, has been reduced to ashes.

As of Monday morning, 65 percent of the fire had been contained.

Large wildfires also broke out in other parts of the country, including Uiseong-gun County in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province and Ulju-gun in Ulsan over the weekend.

The total area burned is about 87 square kilometers, roughly the size of 12,000 football fields.

Nearly 160 homes have been destroyed, and around 2,000 residents have been temporarily evacuated.

The Korea Heritage Service has confirmed that three national heritage sites, including a ginkgo tree, which was over 900 years old, have been destroyed in the fire.

Currently, the government is deploying over 100 helicopters and almost 9,000 personnel to put out the fires.

The cause of the wildfires has not been determined yet as the firefighting efforts are ongoing, but they are tentatively believed to be accidental caused by acts such as welding or from burning gardening waste from tombs or graves.

The Korea Meteorological Administration said that the wildfires were made worse by the severe dryness in forested areas and strong spring gusts.

Choi Soo-hyung, Arirang News.