Forest fire disaster alerts are ringing off the hook. This is because forest fires, which used to occur only in certain regions and at certain times of the year, are becoming nationwide, simultaneous, and year-round. Under these circumstances, Danbi News wanted to comprehensively analyze the changing patterns of forest fires and Korea's response to forest fires. We have collected a large amount of data scattered over a period of one year and two months and present it here.
To analyze the changes in the occurrence of wildfires, Part 1 utilized the “Previous Year (14~23) Wildfire Damage List” posted on the official website of the Korea Forest Service. Using this data, we analyzed the occurrence, evolution, and area of 5668 wildfires over a 10-year period to see how the pattern of wildfires has changed. We found that wildfires that used to occur only in certain regions and at certain times of the year have become nationalized, synchronized, and year-round. We also found that multiple wildfires are occurring across the country on the same day as a large wildfire with a large area of damage.
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In Part 2, we received and analyzed information from the Forest Service and 17 municipalities across the country to analyze the status and challenges of helicopter operations, which are essential to fighting wildfires. We found that on average, 4 out of 10 forest helicopters failed to meet the 30-minute golden time. For forestry helicopters, we found that on average, 7 out of 10 failed to meet the 50-minute golden time. We interviewed helicopter pilots, forest service and municipal officials to cover the process of dispatching helicopters, and also reported on the size of freshwater by region and the budget for leased helicopters by region.
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For the first time, we analyzed the dispatch times and response rates of prevention, special, and aerial firefighting crews under the Forest Service, the main agency responsible for fighting wildfires. We also reported on the roles, treatment, and deployment of firefighters, which can be confusing because of similar terminology. To do so, we analyzed public information requests from the Forest Service, the Forest Aviation Division under the Forest Service, 32 national forest rangers, and more than 100 local governments.
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