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| ▲ A firefighting helicopter tries to extinguish a wildfire in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, on March 29, 2025. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Smoke rises from a mountain in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, on March 29, 2025. (Yonhap) |
wildfire-reignition
Wildfires reignited in southeast areas overnight: officials
ANDONG, South Korea, March 29 (Yonhap) -- Wildfires reignited in the southeastern part of the country overnight, fire authorities said Saturday, and firefighting helicopters were dispatched to extinguish them.
An official with Gyeongbuk Fire Service Headquarters said reports of smoke in Andong, some 190 kilometers southeast of Seoul in North Gyeongsang Province, had started coming in at around 10 p.m. Friday night. Forestry officials believe the fire reignited around 3 a.m. Saturday.
The Korea Expressway Corp. blocked off a section of a nearby highway at 5 a.m. With vehicles unable to reach the mountainous areas, helicopters were called in to contain the fire.
Officials said fires had also restarted in other parts of the province, including Euiseong, just south of Andong.
Regional officials called in firefighting helicopters, along with 230 firefighters and public servants and 50 soldiers, to contain the fires.
Separately, a fire that started near a transmission tower around 9 p.m. Friday in the county of Cheongsong, east of Andong, spread to an adjacent mountain. Cheongsong officials warned residents to brace for a possible power outage.
The Korea Forest Service had announced wildfires in North Gyeongsang had been fully brought under control as of 5 p.m. Friday, after killing or injuring dozens of people and forcing thousands of others to flee.
About 48,000 hectares of woodland, equivalent to some 80 percent of the size of Seoul, have been scorched in the worst wildfire disaster ever in South Korea, according to the forestry agency.
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