Thousands evacuated as fire rages in Gangwon

Social Affairs

Published: 11 Apr. 2023, 10:38 Updated: 11 Apr. 2023, 17:31

Thousands evacuated as fire rages in Gangwon

Devastated residents watch their houses completely engulfed in fire helplessly in Gangneug, Gangwon. [YONHAP]

Some 300 residents and 700 tourists in Gangneung, Gangwon, were evacuated due to the wild fire that has been spreading aggressively because of typhoon level wind.

The fire has already destroyed over 60 houses as well as several cultural heritage.

Some 15 schools have been closed.

The fire department and the forest agency raised the emergency to level 3, the highest of a total of three. Currently over 1,400 firefighters are dispatched.

The wind velocity was around 30 meters per second, which is common during a typhoon.

The strong wind is reported to have grounded all fire fighting helicopters.

The Gangneung city government on Tuesday sent out an alert to nearby residents at 9:35 a.m. after a fire broke out at a nearby mountain in Nangok-dong an hour earlier.

A firefighter putting out a fire that caught on a vehicle in Gangneung, Gangwon on Tuesday. [NATIOAL FIRE AGENCY]

(A Bed-and-Breakfast near Gyeongpo, Gangwon, burning up. [NATIOAL FIRE AGENCY]

A forest fire at Nangok-dong, Gangwon, on Tuesday. [KOREA FOREST SERVICE]

Gangneung residents that evacuated from the wild fire currently staying at the Gangneung Ice Arena on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

A government emergency team headed by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo monitors the situation at the situation room at the government complex in Seoul. [YONHAP]

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]