Category Archives: Forest Fires

Israel asked Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Italy and Croatia to help extinguish major wildfires that broke out Wednesday morning in several locations near Jerusalem and along Highway 1 leading to the city as communities along the road were instructed to evacuate. At least one man suspected of involvement in igniting the fires was arrested, according to Israeli broadcaster Kan, which reported that the suspect is now detained at the Oz police station in east Jerusalem. Israel police did not confirm or give any details on what started the fires. …Foreign Minister Gideon Saar asked his counterparts in the four countries to send firefighting airplanes and helicopters to Israel, including supertankers. Ynet reported that Greece and Italy are sending supertankers and that the Palestinian Authority offered to send firefighters, though Israel has not yet responded to the offer. International aid is expected to arrive Thursday morning.

The scale of forest damage caused by recent wildfires in North Gyeongsang is nearly double the amount initially estimated by the Korea Forest Service, according to multiple local governments and authorities on Thursday. A joint investigation conducted by government agencies, including the Korea Forest Service, found that the wildfires that swept across five cities and counties in North Gyeongsang burned close to 90,000 hectares (222,395 acres) of forest. This is a significant increase from the 45,157 hectares that the Korea Forest Service previously announced as the affected area after fire suppression efforts concluded. The actual damage is twice the originally reported figure and nearly four times greater than the forest damage caused by the East Coast wildfires in 2000, which had been considered the worst in the country’s history until the recent disaster.

REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

The wildfires in North Gyeongsang province began in Uiseong county before spreading 70 km (44 miles) east, to devastate an area equivalent to about two-thirds of the island of Singapore and much larger than the Los Angeles fires in January. “Strong, dry winds blew from the west. The wind had the biggest impact,” said Lim Sang-seop, the minister of the Korea Forest Service, adding that smoke and fog reduced visibility this week, presenting a bigger challenge to helicopters seeking to douse the flames. Experts have said the spread of the Uiseong fire was extremely unusual in terms of scale and speed, while climate change is expected to make wildfires more frequent and deadly globally.

Firefighters have spent a third day battling a mountain blaze that has spread across an area the size of 4,000 football pitches. The cause of the wildfire in Cwm Rheidol, Ceredigion, remains unknown but the fire service in Aberystwyth said it was dealing with a high volume of calls. Emyr Jones, station commander at Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said crews had been called to three different fire fronts on Tuesday afternoon, with a helicopter and drones being used to tackle the flames. Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, Rhodri Davies, councillor for Rheidol Valley, said the fire crew were “on their knees” and it was “very scary”. …Mr Jones said the situation with the mountain fires above Strata Florida near Tregaron was changing all the time and was challenging for crews due to the environment, travel and water supply.

Firefighters are dealing with a wild blaze that has spread over a large area of forest in Scotland with police urging people to stay away from the area. Emergency services were called to Glentrool in Galloway, southern Scotland, at about 11.50pm on Friday with fire crews still on the scene on Saturday afternoon. …Helicopters are being used in efforts to extinguish the flames which have also affected Merrick Hill, Ben Yellary and Loch Dee, police said. One appliance from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is at the scene. Another wildfire had been reported in around the same area on Thursday and covered about 1.5 miles (2.4km). …This year has seen 286 wildfires hit the UK, according to the NFCC, more than 100 above the number recorded in the same period in 2022, a year that had record-breaking temperatures and unprecedented wildfire activity.

The deadly wildfires in southeastern South Korea have been brought under control, but it could take 100 years for the ecosystem in the area affected by the wildfires to recover, according to forestry researchers. Multiple reports on large wildfires — including a March 2025 report by the National Institute of Forest Science — emphasize that it requires over 30 years for structural recovery and up to 100 years for full ecological stabilization. While the recovery varies by the type of living organisms — ranging from fish, marine invertebrates to insects, trees require decades to regrow and forest animals depend on sufficient habitat recovery. Soil restoration takes longer due to complex ecological processes… Meanwhile, the North Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency conducted its first on-site joint investigation in a wooded area in Goesan-ri, Anpyeong-myeon, Uiseong-gun.

Police began investigating a 56-year-old man on suspicion of igniting the wildfires that ravaged southeastern Korea over the past 10 days, leaving 30 dead and burning up vast stretches of land. According to the police on Sunday, the suspect allegedly started the fire around 11:24 a.m. on March 22 while conducting an ancestral rite at a family grave on a hill in Uiseong, North Gyeongsang Province. He has been accused of violating the Forest Protection Act. The flames quickly spread from Uiseong to nearby areas including Andong, Cheongsong, Yeongyang and Yeongdeok in the province. The fire continued to rage for days, making it the most destructive in the country’s history. The suspect denied the allegations against him, according to police.

SEOUL, South Korea — Rain and cooler temperatures are helping South Korean fire crews as they battle the country’s worst-ever wildfires on Friday, as the governor of the hardest-hit region called for overhauling response strategies to respond to the climate crisis that he says worsened the disaster. The wildfires, which have killed 28 people and razed vast swaths of land in the southeast in the last week, were 85% contained as of Friday morning, Korea Forest Service chief Lim Sang-seop told a televised briefing. He said authorities will launch “all-out efforts” to extinguish the remaining blazes by bringing more helicopters and fire fighters to the areas. The raging inferno has also destroyed thousands of houses, factories, vehicles and other structures, while mountains and hills were stripped of anything but a carpet of smoldering ashes. …The wildfires have burned 47,860 hectares (118,265 acres) of land, forced more than 30,000 people to flee their homes and injured 37 others since last Friday. 

SEOUL, South Korea — Wind-driven wildfires that were among South Korea’s worst ever have ravaged the country’s southern regions, killing 24 people, destroying more than 200 structures and forcing 27,000 residents to evacuate, officials said Wednesday.  The death toll included a pilot who died after a helicopter crashed during efforts to contain a blaze in the southeastern town of Uiseong, one of the hardest-hit areas. The aircraft had no other crew members. Police said that most of the dead are those in their 60s and 70s. …In a televised address, South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo said the wildfires that began last Friday were worse than many previous ones.  Han said crews struggled to extinguish the wildfires because strong winds swept the areas overnight. He also said about 4,650 firefighters, soldiers and other personnel were working Wednesday with the help of about 130 helicopters, adding that “a small amount” of 5-10 millimeters (0.1-0.3 inches) of rain was expected Thursday.

Forestry officials are struggling to put out large-scale wildfires that erupted throughout southeastern Korea over the weekend. The South Korean government declared states of disaster in South Gyeongsang and North Gyeongsang provinces and Ulsan in response. As of 8 pm on Sunday, the casualties from the wildfires stood at four deaths and six injuries. Over 2,000 residents were evacuated, with damage to 39 residences. A Level 3 wildfire response was in effect for the three regions of Sancheong County in South Gyeongsang, Uiseong County in North Gyeongsang, and Ulju County in Ulsan. …a total of 6,328 hectares of land had been burnt by the wildfires as of 4 pm on Sunday — the equivalent of 8,864 soccer pitches. …Three firefighters were trapped and lost their lives while attempting to extinguish the Sancheong fire, along with one guidance official. Another six were reportedly undergoing treatment for burns.

The Korea Times: Korea faces growing need to prepare for wildfires amid climate crisis

Authorities in Japan have warned that the country’s biggest wildfire in decades is likely to spread, after it damaged dozens of homes and forced more than 1,000 people to flee. Fires continued to rage a week after they broke out in the city of Ofunato, on the north-east coast, with weather officials speculating that this year’s unusually dry winter and strong winds were to blame. As of Monday, the fire had spread through about 2,100 hectares of land, damaged 84 homes and forced 1,200 residents to take refuge in school gymnasiums and other shelters. A further 2,000 are staying with friends or relatives. …More than 2,000 self-defence force [SDF] troops and firefighters have struggled to control the flames as they spread through heavily forested mountainous areas bordering Ofunato, which was among communities destroyed in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.