S. Korea battling its worst wildfire in years

고성 산불 잔불 정리 중...'재난사태' 선포

The wildfire broke out Thursday morning on a roadside in Goseong county... on South Korea's east coast.
Our Won Jung-hwan is near the scene, so let's go straight to him and get the latest.
So, Jung-hwan tell us what's happened so far -- how big is the fire and how did it start?
Hi Devin, this fire has been devastating to the region.
I'm here at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters in Goseong.
Over night, the fire spread to 18 different sites, burning around 3-hundred-80 hectares of forest so far,… and destroying at least 300 houses and buildings.
The authorities are trying figure out the exact cause of the fire,… but as far as we know right now, it might have been a spark from electrical wires.
The fire quickly spread throughout the region, fanned by strong winds and dry air, affecting Goseong, where I am,... as well as Inje, Sokcho and Gangneung.
The main fire near Goseong and Sokcho was put out at around 9:40 in the morning. And 80-percent of fire in Inje has been extinguished.
But they're having some trouble in Gangneung. And that is why most of the helicopters have headed there, except for the four that are still here.
Right, a lot of resources deployed there, including those helicopters. Give us a better idea of the scale of the effort there in Gangwon-do.
Sure. Just a few hours ago, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon came here to the headquarters to inspect the situation and to order all-out measures to put out this fire.
This is the biggest firefighting force that Korea's ever deployed.
The headquarters of all major regions have sent fire trucks -- specifically, half of the available forces of Seoul, Incheon, Daejeon, Gyeonggi Province and other regions. And a third of the forces of Busan, Ulsan, South Jeolla Province and other areas.
The fire agency issued a top level alert which is for fires that affect the entire nation, reflecting the seriousness of the situation.
But people in the area have been told to evacuate to nearby shelters as soon as possible due to the strong winds and the fires that are still burning.
Back to you Devin.

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