Geumsan-gun's wildfire prevention and suppression unit takes top prize at contest held Friday at former forestry research institute
South Chungcheong Province announced Tuesday it had held the 2026 Wildfire Ground-Suppression Competition, pitting specialized wildfire prevention and suppression units from cities and counties across the province against one another.
Organized by the province and administered by the Korea Forest Disaster Safety Technology Institute, the competition took place Friday at the lawn grounds of the former Forest Resources Research Institute. It was designed as a practical training exercise to sharpen responses to wildfires, which have grown more frequent due to climate change.
Each team consisted of 12 members representing their respective city or county. Teams were evaluated on their proficiency with the mechanized wildfire suppression system — a setup that measures how quickly and effectively a unit can deliver firefighting water from a water source to the fire scene for full suppression.
Geumsan-gun claimed first place and the top prize, with Cheonan finishing second and Buyeo-gun third.
The mechanized wildfire suppression system is designed to maximize water delivery to fires located far from roads that firefighting vehicles cannot access. It uses mid- to large-sized pumps and main hoses to supply water as efficiently as possible.
The system also employs hose pulleys to minimize the labor and time needed to lay hoses, and uses distributors and portable water tanks to ensure that all water supplied to the scene goes toward suppression without waste.
Lee Yong-gil, director of the province's forest policy division, said the province holds the competition every year during the autumn wildfire prevention period to assess personnel proficiency with equipment, check initial-response readiness and improve overall suppression capability. "We will do our utmost to strengthen the ground-suppression capacity of our wildfire suppression units, which are dedicated to initial response and to tackling nighttime and large-scale fires, in order to minimize damage when wildfires break out," Lee said.
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
