The Area of the Samchok Forest Fire to Be Used to Educate Teenagers

The area of the forest fire that broke out in the mountains of Samchok last April will be used to help educate teenagers.

Samchok City revealed on June 6 that it would have a one day field trip courses to the area to educate students from elementary school, middle school, and high school about the dangers of forest fires starting in July.

The field course would go from Kungchonri, the place the fire first broke out, to Wolchonri,
taking two and half hours to finish the course.

The city is planning to receive reservations from students who wish to volunteer for the course from each school in Samchok and the city will hold the course five times a week with 45 students in each class. The city will provide students with a free shuttle bus.

For the course a city officer will accompany the students and will explain about the fire, including its cause, the extent of damage, the autogenesis ability of the mountain ecosystem, how the trees burned, and much more. There will also be information on the important functions of mountains and forests, such as the effects on human life, their ability to provide recreation, and their resource producing qualities.

If results are good, the city will expand the course to teenagers from outside the city. Samchok City will appoint the students who finish the course as honorary mountain fire protection members.

A Samchok City officer said precaution was the most important thing to preventing forest fires, so that the city created the course to raise awareness in teenagers of the serious damage caused by forest fires. There is also the added objective of raising the level of precaution shown by citizens of the area through the education of the teenagers.

by Hong Chang-up