South Korea Issues National Firefighting Mobilization Order Amid Gyeongju Wildfire

A wildfire erupted in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea, on the evening of February 7, local time. According to Jin10, as the fire continued to spread, the South Korean firefighting department issued a national firefighting mobilization order on February 8 at noon. Firefighting resources and personnel from five cities and provinces, including Daegu, Daejeon, Ulsan, Gangwon-do, and Chungcheongnam-do, were mobilized to combat the blaze. On February 8 at 5:30 a.m., the firefighting department initiated the first stage of response, deploying 40 helicopters, 104 fire vehicles, and nearly 300 firefighters to the scene for large-scale firefighting operations. However, as local wind speeds reached 9.5 meters per second, the fire containment rate, which had reached 60%, significantly dropped to 23% by noon, prompting the issuance of the national firefighting mobilization order.