South Korea deployed hundreds of firefighters backed by helicopters to stop a wildfire from spreading to residential areas in a southern county which raged for a three days.

According to the South Korean Forest Service, it deployed 37 helicopters, 36 vehicles and 186 personnel to extinguish a wildfire that broke out in Macheon-myeon, Hamyang County, South Gyeongsang, following a Level 2 wildfire response.

Despite fire authorities focusing on preventing the flames from spreading to nearby homes 184 residents from three nearby villages were evacuated as at one point the affected area covered an estimated 190 hectares with a fire line 2.77 km long and winds of 11.8 meters per second were reported.

The Korea Forest Service said it responded resident safety as the top priority by comprehensively considering weather conditions and terrain characteristics.