Roughly 36,000 hectares of woodland had burned since the fires began the previous Friday. The affected area surpassed the 23,794 hectares lost in the 2000 east-coast fires, previously the national benchmark. The largest blaze began in Uiseong County and spread rapidly through North Gyeongsang Province, at times moving toward the East Sea at speeds of up to eight kilometers per hour.
Authorities mobilized thousands of firefighters and support personnel, along with about 120 helicopters. The military released aviation fuel to sustain aerial operations in mountainous terrain. Acting President Han Duck-soo sent the acting interior minister to remain in North Gyeongsang and oversee relief work until the fires were contained. He highlighted the vulnerability of older residents, including patients from nursing hospitals.
The deaths included a helicopter pilot and four firefighters or other workers who were trapped by fast-moving flames. Officials said many civilian victims were in their 60s and 70s. More than 300 structures were destroyed, including homes, factories and vehicles. Water, electricity and communications were disrupted in multiple communities, with a water-purification plant and power infrastructure among the damaged facilities.
Cultural heritage was also at risk. Around 20 of 30 buildings at the Gounsa temple complex in Uiseong burned, including two state-designated treasures. Crews sprayed retardant near Hahoe Village and the Byeongsan Confucian academy in Andong, both UNESCO-listed sites. Evacuations were ordered as flames and smoke approached nearby villages.
Officials suspected human activity in several initial ignitions, including grass-clearing fires and sparks from welding, but the scale of the disaster was worsened by the environment in which they spread. The affected region had received about half its usual seasonal rainfall, and South Korea had recorded more than twice as many fires as normal during the year to that point. Strong winds repeatedly pushed flames back into areas where crews had made progress.
The government's disaster chief, Lee Han-kyung, said the emergency exposed the severity of the climate crisis. South Korea's average temperature in 2024 was 14.5C, its highest on record and two degrees above the preceding 30-year average. Climatologist Yeh Sang-Wook said low rainfall created favorable wildfire conditions and that climate change was influencing the changes directly and indirectly, while cautioning against attributing the fires to a single cause.
A small amount of rain was forecast, but officials expected less than five millimeters in most affected areas, too little to materially assist containment. With the toll already unprecedented, the response remained focused on protecting communities, restoring essential services and preventing the advancing fire fronts from reaching additional heritage sites.
