All-out battle under way to extinguish east coast wildfires

Firefighting authorities on Monday mobilized all available manpower and equipment to contain the main fires in the eastern coastal areas hit by massive wildfires for the fourth day, as strong winds there showed signs of fading.

The wildfires spurred by high winds amid dry conditions have burned an estimated 16,755 hectares of woodland, the size of 23,466 soccer fields, in Uljin, 330 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and neighboring coastal areas as of 6 a.m. Monday, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters.

No casualties were reported, but 512 facilities, including 343 homes, were damaged by the wildfires, the agency said, noting the affected areas also include Samcheok, Gangneung, Donghae, Yeongweol and Daegu's Dalseong County.

It said 7,355 people in 4,659 households were evacuated in the areas as of 9 p.m. Sunday.

The fire extinguishing rates reached 40 percent in the Uljin and Samcheok areas, 80 percent in Gangneung, 50 percent in Yeongweol and 40 percent in Dalseong as of 5 a.m. Monday, the agency said, noting some 18,000 firefighting personnel, 95 helicopters and 781 vehicles have been mobilized.

The blaze began on Friday morning in Uljin and rapidly spread north to Samcheok in the afternoon, driven by strong wind whose speed reached nearly 30 mps.

Authorities regard Monday as the best opportunity to put out the wildfires, as the wind was blowing weakly at 1 to 2 mps on the east coast and at 0.5 mps in Yeongweol. The wind speed has also dropped to 3 to 4 mps in the Uljin area.

The authorities said they aim to put out the main fires during the day as the weather conditions are expected to worsen from Tuesday afternoon, when the east wind blows.

"The focus of today's firefighting efforts is to contain the main fires but it is difficult to say all the blazes can be extinguished during the day," said Choi Byeong-am, head of the Korea Forest Service, in a news conference.

"As the east wind will blow from Tuesday afternoon, the main fires have to be put under control before then," he said.

The government on Sunday designated the eastern coastal areas ravaged by the massive wildfires as a special disaster zone and vowed swift support for the victims. (Yonhap)