Wildfire risk continues

[Anchor]

The warm and dry weather is causing the forests to become even drier.

It is fortunate that rain is forecast for the weekend, but we still need to be cautious about wildfires until the ground is sufficiently wet.

This is Kim Min-kyung, a meteorological specialist.

[Report]

Leaves piled up on the forest path.

They are so dry that they crumble easily even when touched lightly.

[Jang Mi-na/National Forest Science Institute, Wildfire Research Division: "They are extremely dry. If you grab them with your hand, they break apart immediately."]

Since the beginning of this month, the dry weather has caused leaves and branches to dry out rapidly.

[Jang Mi-na/National Forest Science Institute, Wildfire Research Division: "A small spark can easily ignite a wildfire, and such sparks can also spread quickly."]

In actual wildfire spread experiments, leaves with a moisture content of less than 15% caught fire twice as fast as leaves with 35% moisture content.

Today (Feb. 26), leaf moisture content dropped below 8% during the day, not only on the east coast but also in the central region, including the metropolitan area.

Although the strong winds that had been blowing across the country for two days have subsided, leading to the lifting of the strong wind advisory on the east coast, the risk of wildfires remains.

In particular, starting tomorrow (Feb. 27), warm weather with daytime temperatures rising to around 15 degrees is expected, which will increase dryness.

The dry weather is expected to gradually ease only by the weekend.

[Gong Sang-min/Korea Meteorological Administration, Forecast Analyst: "From the weekend to early next week, snow and rain will fall nationwide due to the influence of a low-pressure system passing through the south, and the dry weather advisories will gradually be lifted, especially in the southern regions where rain is expected to start on the 1st of next month."]

For the time being, conditions are such that even a small spark can easily turn into a large fire, so it is necessary to continue to be cautious, such as avoiding burning trash near forests.

This is KBS News Kim Min-kyung.