Home > National > Social Affairs

Farmer who couldn't just 'sit and watch' repurposes farming equipment to help fight wildfires

Published: 28 Mar. 2025, 19:06 Updated: 30 Mar. 2025, 17:54

LEE SOO-JUNG
[email protected]

Lee Seung-min, a 47-year-old farmer, speaks with the JoongAng Ilbo in Andong, North Gyeongsang on March 28. His large pesticide sprayer is seen behind. [SON SUNG-BAE]

A 47-year-old farmer, Lee Seung-min, traveled more than a hundred kilometers (62 miles) while carrying his long-range pesticide sprayer to suppress the fierce Uiseong wildfire, volunteering as a civilian firefighter to save farmland from the blaze.

Lee is the owner of a 160,000 square-meter (39-acre) farm in North Gyeongsang’s Gumi — around 106 kilometers away from Andong where he came to help contain the wildfire. Lee said he “could not just sit and watch” fire spreading through strong wind and villages engulfed by flames.

“I thought spraying water and fire retardants using my pesticide dispenser would delay the spread of the blaze,” Lee said.

The Uiseong fire burned at least 45,157 hectares (111,585 acres), according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters on Friday.

Lee’s large pesticide sprayer, which resembles a cannon, can hold up to 4,000 liters (1,056 gallons) of fluid and disperse the liquid over distances of up to 100 meters. Although his machinery is intended for agricultural use, his creativity turned the sprayer into fire-extinguishing gear.

Instead of pesticides, he charged his spray with fire retardants. Then, he sprayed the fluid on roads, houses and vegetation in villages where the flames were active.

On Thursday, Lee’s heroic behavior was filmed and aired on a YouTube channel, called “Korea Agriculture & Fish TV.” The video recorded more than 1 million views in a single day.

Lee, who has been in the agriculture industry for nearly two decades, said he felt sorry for seeing other farmers experiencing damages due to wildfires. He also sought help from other agricultural enterprises.

Upon Lee’s request, an enterprise manufacturing multipurpose dispensers sent two machines to the North Gyeongsang regions impacted by the Uiseong fire, one in Uiseong County and the other in the city of Andong.

The dispensers sprayed the fire retardants under strong hydraulic pressure. It successfully deterred the wildfire coming down to Andong's residential area of Giran-myeon.

An owner of the manufacturing enterprise, Byun Ho-jin, 65, also rushed to the wildfire site. He said he wanted to help people from wildfires even though his help might be “trivial” in containing the entire wildfire. Byun said he obtained a patent after developing pesticide dispensers that can spray fluids up into the air to heights of 150 meters from atop trucks.

Lee Seung-min's long-range pesticide sprayer is loaded on a truck parked near Dosan Seowon, a Confucian academy from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), on March 28 as a wildfire draws near the site in Andong, North Gyeongsang. [SEO JI-WON]

Although Lee and Byun were at Dosan Seowon — a former Confucian academy in Andong — which was 20 kilometers away from the closest wildfire site, they were concerned as the blaze was rapidly progressing.

Fire engines with water tanks and pumps were parked near Dosan Seowon in case of the wildfire’s further incursion. Also, firefighters and employees from the academy carried out fire prevention efforts by cutting down foliage and trees — mostly pines and maples — surrounding the historic academy.

Do Kyu-tae, chief manager of the academy, said they prepared thoroughly to protect the academy — a Unesco world heritage designated site —- from the blaze by spraying water on the property and clearing forested areas.

Do also noted that articles left by Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) scholar Toegye Yi Hwang were safely transported to the Korean Studies Institute in the same city.

A footage shows Lee Seung-min's pesticide dispenser spraying water toward flames in North Gyeongsang. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Lee and Byun later headed to other villages still affected by the blaze after checking live information about the Uiseong fire.

“Although we're in farming season, putting out the blaze through joint efforts is a priority,” Lee said before going on another fire-extinguishing mission.

“I will fight the fire to the very last flame using this machinery,” Lee said.

BY SON SUNG-BAE, SEO JI-WON [[email protected]]