Forest Fire in Gangneung threatens Olympic Village

I am typing this from Incheon, on the other side of the country so I don't have personal details to add but I did write about a similar fire powered by strong winds years ago so I felt I should share the details I have learned.

This YTN report - in Korean - does not mention the Olympic Village but does blame the high winds for making the fire uncontrollable.



Yonhap News has a small report on the fire.
As with the fire I witnessed years ago, the entire nation is working to fight this one with fire fighters and vehicles from all over the country coming to help.

Unsurprisingly, the air quality in the area is terrible (Gangneung is the one red dot on the right on the map):

Earlier fire at Naksan temple.

forest fires report

The Chosun announces that "forest fires burn nearly 900 hectares yearly". I say, that sounds pretty damn good. Canada loses 516,000 hectares a year -granted Canada is much larger, but still we also have fewer people to start fires. Korea had an average of 453 fires a year over the past five years, of which just over 200 a year were caused by hikers, with around a 100 caused by farmers.

By way of comparison, The Seoul Times (dated today?) states that the Naksan fire alone burned 973 hectares

Maybe I just can't process how much larger Canada is than South Korea or I am not reading these numbers right. One way or another, I gotta say loosing 900 hectares a year sounds like peanuts (my condolences to any who lost their homes or loved ones. I understand that any amount of fire might be considered too much) Congratulations to Korea's forest fire fighting crews.

Rebuilding Namdaemun will take a while.

In a strange article (mixed Hangeul and English; appearing to be a translators draft more than anything) The Joongang reports that pine trees from Samcheok area have been felled and flown by helicopter to be used to rebuild Namdaemun.

I am no expert but I am pretty sure that lumber needs to "cure" for a while and that curing entails drying for several years. Korean Buddhist temples and the famed 80,000 wood blocks of Buddhist scriptures were soaked in salt water for years before being dried (look for an apparent white stain at the bottom of posts at a temple; that is the salt leaching out).

Maybe the pine collected recently will be for scaffolding or something non structural.

An excerpt from the article:

A Korea Forest Service helicopter transports pine trees (felled) (for use) (in the restoration) (of Namdaemun), (yesterday) (in Samcheok, Gangwon).

“문장의 뼈대가 되는 주성분들로 주어 자리에 A Korea Forest Service helicopter, 서술어 자리에 transports, 목적어 자리에 ‘pine trees’가 각각 왔습니다. 주요 성분부터 흐름을 느끼며 말해 보도록 하겠습니다. A Korea Forest Service helicopter(산림청 헬기 한대가)….transports(운반하고 있다)….pine trees(소나무를)….
수식어 부분을 붙여 보도록 하겠습니다. 소나무들은 (felled) ‘벌채된’ 것인데 (for use) (in the restoration) (of Namdaemun)

Fires, near and far

I want to be open minded and not be judgemental, but how could any think setting fire atop a mountain in the dry season, during a major drought be a good idea?

Photo from the Times
Also from the Times (a different article):

At least four mountain climbers were killed and 30 others injured as of 11:00 p.m. Monday in a mountain stampede during a traditional grass-burning event in Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang Province.

A fire set by municipal officials on a pampas grass field on top of Mount Hwawang flared out of control due to an unexpected wind, forcing onlookers to jump off a cliff, witnesses said.

Casualties are expected to rise as more than 15,000 people participated in the event, held every three years to mark the first full moon of the Lunar New Year.

Organizers set up a 50-meter-wide block to protect the spectators from the fire, but the wind was so strong that they did not have enough time to flee the scene, police said.

Another area facing horrible fires, also probably started by humans, but not by officials, is Victoria, Australia. From the Asia section of the New York Times:

Police have so far confirmed 181 deaths as the fires ripped across the southern state of Victoria on Saturday. But the state’s premier, John Brumby, said more than 50 people remained missing Tuesday afternoon.

“These are people who the coroner believes are already deceased but are not yet identified,” Mr. Brumby said. “So this is going to be a significant number, it will exceed 200 deaths.”

Officials declared crime scenes across huge tracts of land where dozens of victims died in their cars or huddled in their houses during the worst wildfires in Australian history.

The Victorian state police commissioner, Christine Nixon, told a local radio station on Tuesday that one of the fires, which killed at least 21 people in the eastern region of Gippsland, was deliberately set, and police “believe there may be more.”

My best wishes to all those in Victoria.

Naksansa, a year later

NOTE: I had written a different opening that I decided was pretty stupid so if you visited on Saturday night, this post now has a new title.

I had the opportunity to meet two Seoul bloggers today (Saturday). We met at Naksan Beach Hotel and I tried to show them around the temple.

Nathan, the Seoul Hero, seems like a great guy and I had a good morning chatting and looking at how Naksan Temple has begun to rebuild after last year's fire. His friend, Joe, the Seoul man, was also a friendly sort and I enjoyed a good but too-short talk with the two of them.

Nathan has also blogged about his experience with many compliments to me - so thank you very much! Joe blooged about it as well, and, as well, had blogger problems putting many photos into one post. As it is the end of the month, I will link to his archive for April '06 and his three (!) posts should be at the top. (If anyone cares, I have a solution that dates back to the Picasa -Hello days: Post as many pics as you can in one post, set blogger to 'Edit html', copy the html into Wordpad or something, do that as often as you want, then paste the whole bundle into one post (again, set to 'Edit html') and delete all the previous posts used solely to upload pictures. Simple stuff, hey? Near the end of the month, as now, it's easier to link to the archive for that month.)

We spent Saturday morning wandering around Naksan Temple looking at what damage remains from last year's fire (Check the archives for April '05 for my several posts and eye witness accounts of the fire).

Here are Nathan and I at the giant Bodisatva of Mercy. Although the statue is fine, some of the stone around the base has heat fractures.



The temple just below the statue sustained some burns on it's floor.
The ancient bell that had been at the temple for, well, a long time, melted in the fire. It had crystallized with age and use so it was not in use in recent times. Here is the bell used in early '05. I hadn't realized they had just left the bell in the wreckage of its platform.


As perhaps a sign of the old and new, here is a burnt-out cherry tree and new temple resident rabbit.
Blogger has trouble allowing me to place more than four or five photos in one post so this photos are continued in the next post.

Naksansa, the day after

I went through pictures I'd taken at Naksan in the past two years and when I found a match to a photo I took this morning, I put them together below.

I arrived at Naksan at 8:00 this morning and was able to walk right in. I felt like a real reporter because they arrived the same time I did. It was sad to see the burnt areas but the first thing I noticed was the absence of all the vendors at the main gate.


before the fire


after the fire
In 2003, I helped guide an international group of ambassadors around this temple. The upper photo has the banner from that occassion.


after the fire
I didn't have a good duplicate for these two (above and below). There should be another gate and a building behind the one visible. This is the oldest part of the temple and the missing building is the "Hall of the Great Veneration" or main hall. I did 108 prostrations twice here during an overnight stay.

still working at 8:00am Wed.


still working on the fire
I guess the wind had carried burning material high into trees because they were still working on this one at 8:00am.



before the fire


after the fire
Sorry about this photo being a little out of focus. If you've been here, this is the temple with the hole in the floor so you can see where the dragon arose and gave Ui-sung a jewel as a sign of his enlightenment.


after the fire
This picture was taken from Ui-sung Dae, a well known place for seeing the sunrise. Normally the giant Kwaneum is hidden by the trees. I didn't actually get close to the boddhisatva of mercy but it seemed to retain it's white colour.




before the fire.



after the fire
Gone are the meeting/teaching hall, cafeteria and sleeping quarters.


undamaged
I think this wooden Boddhisatva was undamaged. The hall that houses it was fine. The building is about 20-30 years old; it's the big one by the turtle pond.

after the fire
More fire truck, fewer army trucks.


fire truck plates: Chungnam Province, Seoul, Kimpo and Daegu

I spoke to some soldiers that spent the night fighting fires and gave them some can-coffee. At around 8:00 they were just leaving. They looked pretty tired.

A key point of Buddhism is accepting the impermenance of things. The temple site is ancient but monks aren't supposed to be excited about old building or possession on the site. As much as I admire the philosophy, I still had a few tears in my eyes (maybe because of the smoke, maybe).

I don't know about Korea, but I noticed in China that they were very good at building old looking buildings. I wonder how they will construct the new buildings.



Beware of fires, don't smoke.

I suspect that the fire was caused by an inattentive or unlucky farmer, but only because I saw many farmers burning refuse in their fields. I don't know what the cause was for sure.

Fire on Nak Mountain

As of 11:00am this morning, Naksan Temple was safe but several small (or maybe not so small) forest fires were buring on Naksan and on several hills and forested areas inland. I would not be surprised if there were more than a thousand people fighting the fire, fire fighters, police, soldiers, rescue workers and volunteers. Highway 7, running from the DMZ, past Naksan and on to points south was fully open, although police were at all the relevant major intersections. The paved roads leading inland from Naksan were also all open.

I don't know how big the fire is (or hopefully 'was') but the high winds and dust devils were spreading it in a difficult way to control. There was a lot of ash floating in the air and as early as 8:00am, the smoke could be smelled in Sokcho, 12 km away.

Students staying in residence at Kwandong University were evacuated to a point two km further from the fire and are now at a wedding hall.

Below are some pictures with minimal text as they explain themselves pretty well. Below the pictures are my story.


waiting for instructions
Above is the main gate to NakSan Temple and groups of forest fire fighters were milling about.


Naksan Bus Parking lot


Hurry up and wait or a long night?
The bus parking lot held at least 40 of these tanker trucks plus 15 or more fire trucks. Ocassionally, one would race out, siren wailing. The soldiers in this line of truck (10 or more behind this one) were all sleeping.

North side of the road: the wind carried hot ash, fire was crossing the field and road.
These two pictures might be in the wrong order or story telling but they are in chronological order of my arriving on the scene. I think the main fire was on the South side of the road but that it had jumped to this side.


South side of the road. Fire fighters approaching from the field while a helicopter maneuvers above.


Sokcho Airport, where the helicopters were being refueled.


Water tanker helicopter.

I awoke this morning and went into the kitchen where I smelled smoke. I merely wondered what the neighbours were cooking. Later, I went to meet a group to plant trees near Sokcho Beach. No-one was there and when I called, I was told the planting was cancelled due to the fire. When I heard Naksan was on fire, I was very concerned for the temple. Somewhat stupidly, I rode my bike there.

On the way I kicked myself for leaving my apartment windows open (I'm home now, typing this- the apartment may smell like smoke; after having been to Naksan, I probably can't smell smoke very well right now). I also wondered about the wisdom of riding into thicker smoke at a time when I was breathing so deeply.

The people at the local Yangyang Tourism office were at work so the area surrounding Naksan wasn't being evacuated. We watched trucks and helicopters come and go. I questioned some soldiers and bought drinks which I later gave to some fire fighters.

From Naksan, I went inland and saw many groups of fire fighters heading into and out of the woods. Helicopters were constantly in evidence but I didn't actually see any water being dumped. The wind was strong enough that I had to lean into it while riding.

Reaching a crossroads, I headed North, passing the old Sokcho airport, now being used to refuel the helicopters and headed home.

IMMEDIATE UPDATE:
YTN showed footage of the fire and it was by no means small. Reports are that Kwandong students have returned to campus and that the fire either under control or soon will be.


3:00pm
The highway between Yangyang and Sokcho has apparently been closed.

4:00pm
The fire has reached Naksan Temple and Naksan Beach hotel. The situation is clearly bad but I don't know how bad as yet.

5:00pm
I see something about Ui-seung Dae and Ryeon Hong Am on YTN news but I can't read enough Korean to know if they are damaged or if they have escaped damage. Ui-seung Dae is a pavilion for watching the sunrise and is on a cliff right above the ocean. Ryeon Hong Am is also next to the ocean (it's a small, uh, attached temple, related to, but not administratively connected with Naksansa.) These two places are as far to the east as you can go without getting wet feet; I can't see how they could be damaged without the other buildings being affected first. However, as I said before, there are some crazy winds today. They are whistling through my apartment as I type and I can smell smoke on them again.

6:00pm
Highway 7, running past Naksansa, has been reopened.
Flying Yangban notes that 1,600 people have evacuated their homes.

9:00pm From the papers
Chosun
Yangyang County issued a disaster warning as traffic
came to a standstill after authorities, in an effort to
block the path of the fire, closed nearby roads. Some
40 helicopters and 6,000 firefighters were mobilized
to put out the blaze.

Hankooki
Some 5,600 firefighters, police, military personnel
and government officials had difficulties bringing
the fire under control due to strong wind reaching
a maximum velocity of 26 meters per second.

The Korea Forest Service (KFS) dispatched 15
helicopters to battle the fire, pouring water to
contain the flames, beginning at 6 a.m. yesterday.
The dispatch of helicopters was delayed due to
the strong wind.

That's it for me. I may try to visit the temple tomorrow before work, but I'll put that in a separate post.