Strong winds fuel raging wildfire in South Korea
A wildfire broke out and spread quickly across the Goseong region of South Korea on Friday evening.
Located in the northeastern part of the country, the fire was spotted around 8 p.m., local time, which forced officials to evacuate residents in the area.
🇰🇷A #fire broke out late Friday near a mountain in #Goseong,#GangwonProvince of #SouthKorea,forcing hundreds of people to evacuate and local authorities to call for help from nearby cities. No casualty had been reported as of 10:20 p.m. pic.twitter.com/zop0n3TBH8
— CCTV Asia Pacific (@CCTVAsiaPacific) May 1, 2020
As of 10:30 p.m. local time, everyone was safe with no casualties, according to Yonhap News.
However, strong winds in the area helped fan the flames and has allowed the blaze to spread quickly. Some school grounds in the region were reportedly on fire.
#강원_고성_산불 진화율 85%,
오전 중 주불 진화에 총력 (5월 2일, 7시 20분 현재)
강원 고성 산불 85% 진화 중
가용 가능한 자원 총 동원으로 오전 중 주불 진화에 총력
-산림청 중앙사고수습본부 - pic.twitter.com/D5UA9P9hl4— 대한민국 산림청 (@forest_news) May 1, 2020
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Later Friday night, the forest fire became a Stage 3 fire, the highest level of response.
Asia Business Daily reported at least 420 residents were evacuated from their homes and over 600 firefighters and 225 fire trucks were working to contain the blaze.
#고성산불 심각해요 제발 제발 제발 알아주세요 실시간입니다 pic.twitter.com/ZOIDzzbiL3
— 솔 (@soll1127) May 1, 2020
This region of South Korea has already been dealing with wildfires so far this spring. In early April, a fire spread across northeastern parts of the city, killing one and injuring 11 others. South Korea also declared a state of emergency in January when fires hit five different cities along the eastern shores of the country.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
