Is Critical Infrastructure Safe from the Wildfires? A Case Study of Wildland-Industrial and -Urban Areas in South Korea

Global climate change and warming and unplanned urbanization have resulted in industrial facilities and livelihoods encroaching on wildlands. Wildfire risks are increasing globally, and concerns about natural hazards triggering technological accidents (Natech) caused by wildfires in wildland-industrial and wildland-urban interface areas are rising. As wildfires that could trigger Natech accidents occur infrequently, critical infrastructure and industrial facilities should prepare for the potential catastrophic impact of wildfires in advance. This paper describes a case study in which a wildfire threatened critical energy infrastructure located in wildland-industrial interface (WII) and wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas in South Korea. The energy infrastructure managed to avoid a serious Natech accident through intensive risk and emergency management. Although there was no Natech disaster or dreadful damage to the energy facility, this threat to the energy infrastructure is a reminder to prepare for future Natech disasters in WII and WUI areas that could result in unmanageable consequences. This study highlights the need for intensive and integrated wildfire-specific Natech risk management considering critical infrastructure and industrial facilities in WII and WUI areas that should focus on including all stakeholders and Natech resilience enhancement