S. Korea’s largest ever wildfire: Massive effort underway to extinguish main blaze

Rain has offered some relief to regions ravaged by the latest wildfires by advancing efforts to tame the rampant flames which have been the worst on record for South Korea.

Our Park Hyo-been has the latest.

Last night's rainfall significantly helped firefighters contain the wildfires in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, bringing a crucial breakthrough in the week-long wildfire battle.

"Last night's rain has improved visibility, and the lower temperatures are working in our favor. This gives us the best possible conditions for firefighting."

Around 3PM, the Korea Forest Service reported that the main fire in Yeongdeok-gun County, located in the eastern part of Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, has been fully contained.

By midday on Friday, the overall containment rate across the region had reached 94 percent, a 32-percentage-point increase from the previous afternoon.

Also, the wildfire in Sancheong-gun County, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, which started last Friday, was 93 percent contained as of midday.

No additional casualties have been reported so far on Friday afternoon.

As of this morning, the wildfire has killed at least 28 and injured 37 others.

The disaster has displaced around 33-thousand residents, with more than 8-thousand still unable to return home.

"I saw the flames approaching my house—everything was glowing red. I grabbed what I could and ran When I came back, it was all gone. The fire was still burning."

The wildfire marked as the largest in South Korea’s history, affecting approximately 4-hundred 80 square kilometers—nearly 80 percent the size of Seoul's total land area.

Nearly 3-thousand-5-hundred structures were damaged.

The governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do Province said the goal is to extinguish the main fire on Friday, and once the main fire is controlled, measures to address the wildfire damage will be considered.

Due to the severity of the damage, the government has designated affected areas as Special Disaster Zones.

This designation ensures that significant resources will be allocated for relief and recovery efforts.

Park Hyo-been, Arirang News.