A massive wildfire broke out near a nuclear plant in South Korea causing the government to declare a natural disaster alert, the presidential office announced Friday.
South Korea President Moon Jae-in issued the order to protect the Hanul Nuclear Power Plant, where the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. operates six nuclear pressurized water reactors, Reuters reports.
The fires destroyed a total of 12 residential properties and three storage units, according to Yonhap.
The fire broke out this morning and has destroyed at least 22 homes and nine other structures, according to officials at the National Fire Agency and the Korea Forest Service.
At the time of publication around 1,000 firefighters were still battling the blaze amid strong winds.
They were understood to be focusing their efforts on preventing the blaze from reaching a liquified natural gas facility near the city of Samcheok.
Nearly 4,000 people were evacuated from their homes as the fire spread, but all but 161 have returned, National Fire Agency official Lee Jae-hoon said.
At one point the fire reached the perimeter of a nuclear power plant, forcing operations to be reduced to 50%.
