The Uiseong fire had started on March 22 and advanced more than 20 kilometers toward Andong by March 24. By the following day, flames were moving along northern and eastern fronts. Thousands of firefighters were deployed across at least nine fires nationally, with aircraft and hundreds of vehicles assigned to the Uiseong-Andong response. The Korea Forest Service raised the wildfire warning to its highest level, a step requiring local authorities to devote additional personnel and tighten access to forests and parks.
Authorities moved residents into schools, gyms and other temporary shelters. In Uiseong, 337 patients from hospitals and nursing facilities were transported to safer locations using ambulances and buses. Evacuations also extended to communities near Yeongdeok as the fire approached the coast. Updated official figures reported by The Associated Press the next day said 18 people had died across the southern wildfire disaster, more than 200 structures had been destroyed and about 27,000 people had been ordered to leave their homes.
The fires threatened sites of major cultural importance. In Andong, crews prepared to protect Hahoe Folk Village and Byeongsan Seowon, both associated with a UNESCO World Heritage area, when flames moved to within about 10 kilometers. A later wind change reduced the immediate pressure on those sites. Elsewhere, Gounsa, a Buddhist temple founded in the seventh century, burned. Important objects, including a stone Buddha designated as a national treasure, had been removed before the fire reached the wooden buildings. Other historic structures in the fire's path were also reported damaged or destroyed.
Transport links were repeatedly closed as smoke and flames crossed the region. Rail service on sections of the Jungang Line was suspended, while stretches of two expressways and several local roads were shut in both directions. The restrictions complicated movement through an area already managing evacuations and firefighting traffic.
Officials suspected human activity may have started several of the season's fires, including the Uiseong blaze, but investigations were not complete. The immediate challenge remained the weather: gusts near 20 meters per second and persistent dryness allowed spot fires to jump ahead of crews, turning what had appeared to be improving containment into renewed, fast-moving emergencies. The changing wind direction also meant official containment percentages could shift quickly and did not guarantee that evacuated communities were safe to re-enter.
