**Daejeon's Fire Victims' Painful Night**
Many residents trembled in fear and spent the night with their eyes wide open due to the forest fire that broke out in Hamji Mountain, Nogok-dong, Buk-gu, Daejeon.
On the morning of the 29th, evacuees who had been unable to sleep throughout the night were gathered in a temporary shelter set up at the auditorium of Paldal Elementary School in Buk-gu, Daejeon, enjoying breakfast provided by the Korean Red Cross.
Due to the fire that occurred the previous day, residents of Nogok-dong, Joyang-dong, and Seobyeon-dong had to urgently evacuate to the school auditorium.
Park Jeong-sook (74), who lives near the mountain, expressed, “I stayed awake all night worrying about possible damage to my property.” She mentioned that she was resting on a hard floor without a mat and was currently lying down on a mat she had just received.
Another evacuee, Kim Jae-wook (81), who has to use a wheelchair because of an injured leg, expressed his discomfort at asking for help from the shelter staff.
An Geum-joo (90), who evacuated from Nogok-dong, stated, “I’m worried because there’s a house at the foot of the mountain,” adding that in a hurry to evacuate, she couldn’t take her diabetes and blood pressure medications, raising concerns about her health.
The forest fire began around 2:02 PM the previous day and rapidly spread due to strong winds. In response, 29 helicopters were deployed to fight the fire; however, they withdrew at sunset and transitioned to a nighttime response system.
The forestry authorities increased the fire containment rate to 65% by deploying two Surion helicopters capable of night flying and a special firefighting vehicle when wind intensity decreased.
During the daytime, they are developing plans to control the main fire, striving for the safety of the evacuees and damage recovery.
Image source: On the morning of the 29th, residents are having breakfast at the temporary shelter set up in the auditorium of Paldal Elementary School in Buk-gu, Daejeon / News1. On the second day of the fire at Hamji Mountain, Buk-gu, on the 29th, forestry authorities deployed 51 helicopters to carry out firefighting operations / Provided by the Korea Forest Service.
