TECHNOLOGIES USED IN PREVENTING FIRES

[Anchor Lead]

Wednesday marks Ipchun, which means the beginning of spring. In Korea , it is a season to be mindful of wildfires, as more than half of annual wildfires occur in spring. The Korea Forest Service will use cutting-edge technologies to prevent and battle potential blazes.

[Pkg]

A forest is engulfed in flames. The 519 hectare forest was burned by a fire that broke out in Ulju-gun County, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, last March. Back in April 2019, fires destroyed forests totaling nearly 2,900 hectares in Goseong, Inje and Gangneung of Gangwon-do Province. Sixty percent of about 4,700 wildfires occurring over the past decade broke out between the months of February and April. Analysts say it is because the air is dry with strong winds, following the winter. The Korea Forest Service will launch a special campaign to prevent forest fires starting this month, with the help of cutting-edge information and communications technologies.

[Soundbite] Park Chong-ho(Forest Service Minister) : "We will introduce smart surveillance cameras and other IT-based programs to prevent mountain fires."

The agency has introduced a system that predicts how a forest fire will spread, based on a detailed topographic map of houses, pylons and cultural assets as well as mountainous areas. The system is expected to be effective in putting out fires early and preventing casualties.

[Soundbite] Kim Man-joo(Korea Forest Service) : "We will be able to make accurate decisions on where to dispatch firefighters and form a defense line with helicopters."

The forest service will also restrict public access to mountains of just over 2 million hectares or 35 percent of the nation’s total forests. It will also limit hiking at trails totaling 8,358 kilometers or 26 percent of the nation’s trekking routes.