South Korea's worst wildfires are now almost contained following rain and cooler weather

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The most destructive wildfires ever to hit South Korea were almost contained, authorities announced Friday, after rain and cooler temperatures helped fire crew put out the blazes that have killed 28 people and razed vast swaths of land since last week.

In a televised briefing, Korea Forest Service chief Lim Sang-seop said that all main fires at four of the hardest-hit areas in the southeast have been fully contained.

The forest service’s website shows efforts to extinguish the wildfires remain at only one place as of Friday afternoon. The government’s disaster response team earlier said that wildfires at other sites have been put out.

“As we've completed works to contain main fires, we're turning into a system to deal with small fires,” Lim said. “There are still dangers of breakouts of another wildfires so we won't loosen our vigilance and will make all-out efforts to prevent them.”

The raging inferno, fueled by windy and dry conditions, has destroyed thousands of houses, factories, vehicles and other structures since last Friday, while mountains and hills were stripped to a carpet of smoldering ashes. But light rain that began Thursday night and subsequent cooler weather have helped fire-fighting efforts.

“Hazes have been diminished because of the rain last night, so that’s favorable for securing visibility. Also temperatures are now lower than the last few days, so things are very favorable to put out the wildfires,” Lim said in an earlier briefing Friday.

Authorities mobilized about 9,000 people, 125 helicopters and hundreds of other vehicles Friday to battle the wildfires.

Tens of thousands have fled their homes

Firefighters — many in their 60s, a reflection of one of the world’s fastest-aging populations — navigated forests in yellow helmets and red protective suits, spraying suppressants at flames that flickered near their feet. Helicopters dropped buckets of water over hills that glowed red in the night.

Residents hunkered down in temporary shelters in places like schools and gyms, but the fire crept dangerously close to some of them too. A video shared by one evacuee shows blazes approaching a school soccer field under a sky choked with smoke.

“I just kept crying this morning,” said 79-year-old Seo Jae Tak, an evacuee at a gym in Andong city, on Thursday. “When I went back yesterday, the entire mountain had turned to ashes. It’s just unbelievable, I can’t even put it into words. All I can do is cry.”

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. Officials said Friday that 8,000 residents remained at temporary shelters.

Wake-up call to overhaul wildfire responses

While it's hard to link any one event to climate change, officials and experts say that it is making wildfires more likely and more severe. Scientists have already warned the warming atmosphere around the world is driving ever more extreme weather events, including deadly wildfires, flooding, droughts, hurricanes and heat waves that are causing billions of dollars in damage every year.

“We must completely overhaul our wildfire response strategy in the face of extreme climate conditions,” said Lee Cheol-woo, governor of North Gyeongsang Province.

Lee noted that the past week has shown how wildfires can quickly overwhelm the country's resources. He said he would request that the government establish better evacuation guidelines, adopt more powerful firefighting tools including aircraft equipped with water cannons, and adopt other approaches to improve firefighting efforts during nighttime hours.

“We don’t have the equipment for firefighting at night,” Lee said. “In the night, firefighting is done solely with manual efforts, but with the increased density of our forests compared to the past, it’s difficult to manage with just that.”

The people killed were mostly in their 60s or older. They include a pilot whose helicopter crashed during efforts to contain a fire Wednesday and four firefighters and other workers who died earlier after being trapped by fast-moving flames. Officials say older people found it difficult to evacuate quickly but have not provided details of the civilian dead.

In Uiseong, the fires damaged about 20 of the 30 structures at the Gounsa temple complex, said to have been originally built in the 7th century. Among them were two state-designated “treasures”: a pavilion overlooking a stream that dates to 1668, and a Joseon dynasty structure built in 1904 to mark the longevity of a king.

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Associated Press video journalist Yong Jun Chang in Andong, South Korea contributed to this report.