Firefighters from North Gyeongsang Province and volunteer firefighters are seeing off firefighters from other regions who were dispatched to extinguish wildfires in Andong March 30. Yonhap News

The massive wildfires that broke out simultaneously in the Yeongnam region of Korea have exposed the shortcomings of the country's wildfire response system. It will be difficult to avoid the criticism that the recent wildfires, the most destructive in the country’s history, were caused by its poor disaster response system.

The wildfire started in Uiseong-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, on March 22 spread to four neighboring cities and counties. Favorable weather conditions for the spread of wildfires contributed to its prolonged spread. On the 25th, the wildfires spread to the surrounding areas at a speed of 8.2 kilometers per hour with strong winds. The fast-spreading wildfires failed to be put out in the initial stage. The containment of wildfires in Uiseong on the first day was only 6 percent. Together with the wildfires in Sancheong-gun, South Gyeongsang Province, which broke out the day before, 30 fires broke out simultaneously across the country on the 21st and 22nd.

The government and forestry authorities were helpless in the face of the wildfires in North Gyeongsang Province. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Central Disaster Safety Countermeasures Center and the Korea Forest Service did not even have a good grasp of the affected areas on the 25th, when the wildfires spread simultaneously. On the 25th and 26th, there was no aggregate data. The forest service excused the withdrawal of all firefighters due to strong winds and the difficulty of flying thermal imaging drones, but it meant that the equipment and manpower possessed by forestry authorities were insufficient in front of large wildfires.

Local governments were also limited in their ability to keep residents safe. In some cases, the fire spread in the direction of their evacuation instructions within 30 minutes. The victims were mostly elderly people who were forced to evacuate on their own. Some point out that it clearly shows the absence of a disaster control tower. The lack of a disaster control tower is a clear indication of the government's inability to clearly understand the disaster situation, leading to improvised responses by local governments that only added to the confusion of residents.

Local governments affected by the wildfires point to a lack of equipment and infrastructure to fight large fires. “At one point, there were nearly 90 helicopters, but 70 percent of them had less than 1,000 liters of water, so when they sprayed water from the air, it was scattered,” said Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of North Gyeongsang Province. ”Even so, we couldn't fly the helicopters at night, in the morning due to smoke or fog, and during the day due to wind.” Lee also said, “We need to completely change the system for responding to wildfires. We need equipment that can put out fires early on with at least tens of thousands of liters of water, such as mobilizing transport aircraft like in other countries, and helicopters or firefighting equipment that can fly at night.”

In fact, up to 120 helicopters were mobilized to fight the recent wildfires. The Korea Forest Service has 50 firefighting helicopters, of which only seven are large helicopters with a water capacity of 8,000 liters. The main model is a Russian-made 3,000-liter Kamov helicopter, of which eight out of 29 are not in operation due to the supply and demand problem of parts.

Park Wan-soo, Governor of South Gyeongsang Province, also called for the easing of rigid firefighting procedures and the establishment of sufficient equipment. “There were many problems mobilizing helicopters during the wildfire containment process due to government permission for takeoff and landing,” Park said. ”In special situations, such as special disaster areas, it is necessary to allow private helicopters to take off without government permission.” He also said, "The Korea Forest Service's special fire extinguishing team played a large role in containing the fires. I call for the government to provide sufficient equipment and facilities for local governments’ fire prevention and extinguishing teams.”

“In the process of extinguishing the wildfires, there were repeated situations where the fires were extinguished during the day and reignited at night,” Park said. ”It will be difficult to extinguish wildfires in the future unless specialized equipment such as thermal imaging drones, mobile high-powered LED lights, and portable searchlights are reinforced to extinguish wildfires at night.”