Wind-driven wildfires that have been among the worst in South Korea’s history are ravaging southern regions, killing 18 people, destroying more than 200 structures and forcing 27,000 people to evacuate, officials said on Wednesday.
Han Duck-soo, South Korea’s prime minister and acting president, said the five-day fires had caused “unprecedented damage” and asked disaster management agencies to “assume the worst-case scenario and respond accordingly,” Yonhap news agency reported.
The helicopter crashed while fighting forest fires in the southeastern city of Uiseong, the pilot was killed and the Korea Forest Service was forced to suspend helicopter flights nationwide.
Officials in Andong city and other towns in the southeastern part of the country ordered residents to evacuate Tuesday as firefighters struggled to contain multiple fires caused by dry winds that have burned more than 17,400 hectares (43,000 acres) of land and destroyed hundreds of structures, including a 1,300-year-old Buddhist temple.
South Korea’s interior and security ministry said more than 5,500 people were forced to evacuate from their homes in Andong, neighbouring Uiseong and Sangcheon counties and Ulsan city, where the fires were the worst.
South Korean officials said on Tuesday that firefighters had extinguished most of the flames from the largest wildfires in those areas, but continued dry and windy weather caused delays and allowed the fires to spread again.
Lee Byung-doo, a forest disaster expert at the National Institute of Forest Sciences, said the Uiseong fire, which is only 68 per cent contained and exacerbated by strong winds, is showing “unimaginable” scale and speed.
Forest fires are predicted to become more frequent due to climate change, Lee states. “We must recognise that large-scale forest fires will intensify and more resources and manpower will be needed,” the expert told a local TV station.
Some 9,000 firefighters have been deployed to fight the fires, along with more than 130 helicopters and hundreds of pieces of equipment, but work was partially suspended overnight due to stronger winds.
Authorities in Andong and Uiseong County ordered residents of several villages and those near Andong University to evacuate to safe places or temporary shelters, including schools and indoor gyms, as the fire that started in Uiseong continued to spread.
The fire in Uiseong destroyed Gunsu-ri, a Buddhist temple built in the seventh century, according to the Korean Cultural Heritage Service. There were no immediate reports of casualties, and some of the temple’s national treasures, including a stone Buddha statue, were evacuated before the fire reached the wooden structures.
The fire also spread to the nearby coastal town of Yongdok, where authorities have blocked roads and ordered residents of at least four villages to evacuate. The Justice Ministry has yet to confirm local reports that it has begun relocating 2,600 inmates from a prison in Jeongseon County.
Anthropogenic climate change has been cited as the cause of a higher likelihood of fires and increased scorched areas in southern Europe, northern Eurasia, the US and Australia, with some evidence of an increase in southern China. Climate change has increased the duration of the wildfire season by an average of about two weeks worldwide.
