U.S. Army helicopters to join fight against wildfires ravaging southeastern Korea
Published: 27 Mar. 2025, 15:15
![A CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopter airlifts ammunition during an air assault drill in Icheon, Gyeonggi, in July 2022. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/03/27/e8e6d1ca-1aa1-4bcc-98a5-28c1b8031e4b.jpg)
A CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopter airlifts ammunition during an air assault drill in Icheon, Gyeonggi, in July 2022. [YONHAP]
U.S. Army helicopters will be dispatched to combat the cluster of wildfires ravaging the Gyeongsang region, the Korean government disclosed Thursday.
The mobilized helicopters carry up to five times more water than the typical helicopter, according to the Korea Forest Service. The dispatch comes as the service decided that the rugged terrain and windy conditions made deploying ground personnel virtually impossible.
The service aims to halt the spread of the fire to Mount Jiri by dumping water en masse on the blaze, followed by flame retardants. Up to 29 helicopters will be dispatched for the effort, including four U.S. Army helicopters — a Boeing Chinook CH-47 and three Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks.
The Chinook can carry five tons of water, five times more than most of the helicopters deployed by the service other than the S-64 Skycrane, which carries up to eight tons. The UH-60 can carry up to 1.5 tons.
The Korean Army will also dispatch five helicopters: four Chinooks and a medevac helicopter.
A Korean pilot will board the U.S. helicopters alongside American pilots to support terrain logistics and communications. Two Korean Army helicopters were dispatched ahead to scout out weather conditions and locations of smoke and clouds.
“It is better to dump the water all at once, making one large helicopter more important than three standard ones,” a forest service official said.
A firefighting helicopter crashed at the scene of a wildfire in Uiseong County, North Gyeongsang, on Wednesday, killing the pilot. The crashed helicopter was a Sikorsky S-76 leased by Inje County, Gangwon, according to the forest service.
BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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