The third largest wildfire in the history of South Korea burnt 43300acres, 27000 evacuated, 18 death, 19 injured and destroyed 1300 years temple in Uiseong, prompting national emergency response.

Officials reported that the 18 dead include four firefighters and government workers who were killed in Sancheong on Saturday after being trapped by fast-moving flames driven by strong winds, according to officials.

The government has declares emergency, deploying 6,700+ firefighters and 130 helicopters to contain the flames as strong winds and dry weather fuel the raging wildfire

The government emergency response center reported that an ancient Buddhist temple, houses, factories and vehicles were among the structures destroyed in the wildfires.

In a televised address, South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo said the wildfires that began last Friday were causing worse damage than many other past wildfires.

“Damages are snowballing, there are concerns that we’ll have wildfire damages that we’ve never experienced, so we have to concentrate all our capabilities to put out the wildfires in the rest of this week.” He stated

He said that “a small amount” of 5-10 millimeters of rain was expected Thursday.

Officials in several southeastern cities and towns had ordered residents to evacuate Tuesday as firefighters struggled to contain multiple blazes fueled by dry winds.

 The largest fires were in Andong, the neighboring counties of Uiseong and Sancheong, and the city of Ulsan, according to South Korea’s Interior Ministry.

The blaze in Uiseong destroyed nearly half of more than 30 structures at Gounsa, a temple which was said to be originally built in the 7th century.

Among the destroyed structures were two state-designated “treasures” — a pavilion-shaped structure built on a stream built in 1668 and a Joseon Dynasty structure built in 1904 to mark the longevity of a king.

The temple’s another state-designated “treasure,” a stone Buddha statue reportedly manufactured in the 8th century, was evacuated to a safe place, according to government and Buddhist officials.

The Justice Ministry said it protectively removed 500 inmates from a detention center in Cheongsong, another southern town, but no damages were reported to the facility.

Government officials suspect human error caused several of the fires, possibly due to the use of fire while clearing overgrown grass in family tombs or sparks from welding work.