Forest Research Institute "4 Causes of L.A. Wildfires"...Advance domestic forest fire warning period

The National Forest Research Institute of the Korea Forest Service said it will analyze the cause of large-scale forest fires in LA, the United States, and Korea will also implement the Spring Forest Fire Warning Period eight days earlier than usual in preparation for forest fires.

The National Institute of Forest Science said in an analysis this morning (20th) that the first cause of large wildfires in LA, USA, is dry weather conditions.

Recently, the L.A. region has seen precipitation remain at 4% of normal since May 2024, which has made burning fuels very dry and easy to ignite.

The second cause is the topographic effect, which accelerated the spread of wildfires with "Santiana gusts" blowing strongly over the eastern mountain range to the west coast reaching 45 meters per second.

The third cause is the analysis that it served as a spark for further forest fire damage due to the extensive expansion of settlement facilities and plant growth from the forest adjacent area to the coast.

It was also analyzed that the "year-rounding of wildfires" caused by warming and drought is one of the causes.

The Korea Forest Service said it will implement this year's Spring Wildfire Warning Period from the 24th, eight days earlier than previous years (February 1), as the risk of forest fires is increasing due to warming and dry weather.

In particular, the Korea Forest Service urged special attention, saying that the risk of forest fires in Gangwon and Yeongnam areas is "high" this month amid continued special dry warnings around the east coast.