Rain and cooler weather help South Korean fire crews battle devastating wildfires

By Hyung-Jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung
Associated Press
March 27, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

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. 

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