Firefighters continue to battle blaze in Gijang County as main fire in Gwangyang '80 percent contained'

Firefighters continue to battle a blaze Thursday morning in Gijang County, Busan, after a factory fire that broke out on Wednesday spread to a nearby mountain.

A fire that started at a factory in Gijang County, Busan, spreads to a nearby mountainside on the night of Jan. 21, 2026. [BUSAN FIRE SAFETY HEADQUARTERS]

Firefighters continue to battle a blaze Thursday morning in Gijang County, Busan, after a factory fire that broke out on Wednesday spread to a nearby mountain.

The fire started at around 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday at a tile factory in Cheonggang-ri, Gijang-eup, Gijang County. The flames quickly spread throughout the entire 330-square-meter (3,552-square-foot) facility and moved into the adjacent forested area.

Authorities closed nearby roads and issued an evacuation advisory to guests staying at a nearby resort. Traffic was completely halted in the direction of Gijang from the entrance of Yeonhwa Tunnel. Local authorities reportedly advised about 10 resort guests near the site to evacuate.

The Busan Fire Department initially issued a Level 1 emergency response at 8:18 p.m. and raised it to Level 2 at 9:58 p.m. A Level 2 response mobilizes additional personnel and equipment from neighboring fire stations.

Strong winds hampered efforts to extinguish the fire and helicopters could not be used due to limited vision at nighttime. They were deployed at around 7:30 a.m.

As of 4:30 a.m., 65 percent of the blaze was controlled.

A fire that started at a factory in Gijang County, Busan, spreads to a nearby mountainside on the night of Jan. 21, 2026. [BUSAN FIRE SAFETY HEADQUARTERS]

Helicopters are deployed to contain a wildfire in Gwangyang, South Jeolla, on Jan. 22, 2026. [YONHAP]

Meanwhile, firefighting efforts continued for a second day Thursday to contain a wildfire in Gwangyang, South Jeolla, where a national fire mobilization order has been issued.

A total of 38 fire trucks — including 20 wildfire response and command vehicles and 17 fire engines — and 322 personnel have been deployed to combat the blaze in a forested area of Okgok-myeon, Gwangyang, as of Thursday morning.

So far, the fire has burned approximately 42 hectares (104 acres) — equivalent to about 58 football fields. No casualties have been reported, but more than 150 residents from Okgok-myeon and Jinsang-myeon have evacuated to shelters set up at local district offices and welfare centers.

The Korea Forest Service plans to fully extinguish the fire by the end of Thursday. A Surion helicopter equipped with a thermal imaging camera was used overnight to monitor the situation — marking the first nighttime deployment of such equipment in a wildfire response.

“The main fire has been about 80 percent contained,” a spokesperson from the Jeollanam-do Fire Headquarters said. “We are working closely with the Korea Forest Service to prevent any human casualties and bring the fire under control.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY JUNG SI-NAE [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]