<Anchor>

Forest fires in Hongseong, Daejeon, and Geumsan, South Chungcheong, where the third phase of forest fire response has been issued, are spreading for the second day. The forest authorities have set a goal of catching the main fire by today (3 days) and are deploying more than 3 firefighting helicopters, including a very large helicopter, to wage an all-out war. Connect reporters who are out in the field.

Reporter Lee Yong-sik, the helicopters are back in, are the wildfires slowly catching up?

<Reporter>

Yes, the place I'm in is Sinchon-ri village on the western side of Hongseong County.

Black smoke billows from the mountain ridge behind me, and flames rise intermittently.

Since the morning, 30 firefighting helicopters, including a very large helicopter, have been deployed to put out the fire, and the power of the rest of the world is gradually weakening.

The wind, which had been blowing about 16 meters per second, also abated for a while, helping to extinguish in the morning.

With the third phase of forest fire response in place, more than 8,3 extinguishing personnel and 3 fire engines were mobilized to carry out all-out extinguishing work throughout the night.

As of 146 a.m., the evolution rate is 11%.

The flames spread to 73 km from the ignition point, but now 20.14 km has been extinguished, and the remaining fire line is 7.5 km long.

As the fire spreads far and wide, the forest area affected by the fire is 3 hectares.

Like Hongseong, forest fires that occurred on the border between Daejeon and Geumsan, South Chungcheong, where the third phase of forest fires have been issued, also have an 9% extinguishing rate.

Of the 84.3 kilometers of the flames, 84.16 kilometers were extinguished.

It is feared that 7ha of forest affected by the wildfires will be burned.

The Boryeong Forest Fire in Chungnam, where eight helicopters were deployed after the second phase of the forest fire, was about 14 percent extinguished as of 1 a.m.

However, at forest fire sites such as Hongseong, winds blowing at about 414 meters per second and smoky conditions make it difficult for helicopters to extinguish them.

The forest authorities decided to finish extinguishing the main fire as soon as possible today to prevent further damage.

(Video Interview: Kim Min-chul, Video Editing: Yoon Tae-ho)