Gangwon State Activates Fall Wildfire Emergency Response System, Deploys 27 Helicopters and Over 15,000 Personnel

Wildfire prevention period to run from November 1 to December 15
Crackdown on illegal burning near forests

Gangwon State (Governor Woo Sang-ho) is activating an emergency response system for fall wildfires, deploying 27 helicopters and more than 15,000 public- and private-sector personnel. With dry weather and more people heading into the mountains to see the fall foliage or gather forest products, the province will strengthen monitoring and initial firefighting efforts.

View of the Gangwon State Government building. Provided by Gangwon State.

Gangwon State announced on October 30 that it had designated the 45-day period from November 1 to December 15 as its fall wildfire prevention period and would operate a wildfire prevention headquarters.

The provincial Wildfire Prevention Center will switch its wildfire response situation room to a 24-hour emergency operating system. It plans to share wildfire incident information with the wildfire prevention headquarters in the province's 18 cities and counties and coordinate responses on the ground.

On the ground, 2,403 wildfire monitoring personnel, 1,214 forest disaster response team members, 1,979 village heads, 6,544 volunteer firefighters and 3,179 members of autonomous disaster prevention teams will patrol wildfire-prone areas and carry out prevention activities.

The province has also completed the advance deployment of eight leased helicopters for aerial firefighting. Two helicopters with a water capacity of 3,400 liters have been assigned to the East Coast region, and six to the Yeongseo and border regions. Together with eight helicopters from the Korea Forest Service, three from the fire service and eight from the military, a total of 27 helicopters will work together in the event of a wildfire.

The province will also address the increase in agricultural waste burning after crop harvests. Its forestry and agriculture departments will work together to support the collection and shredding of agricultural waste, while strengthening enforcement, including imposing fines for illegal burning near forests.

Kim Gyu-ha, director general of Gangwon State's Forest and Environment Bureau, said, "The risk of wildfires is very high in fall because many people head into the mountains to see the foliage and gather forest products. Please strictly follow prevention guidelines, including not burning near forests, taking care when handling ash from wood-burning boilers and not carrying items that could start a fire when hiking."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.