A dharma bell remains amid the ruins of Goun Temple, an ancient, thousand-year-old temple in Uiseong, North Gyeongsang Province, that was almost completely destroyed by wildfires, Wednesday. Yonhap

Deadly wildfires that started in Uiseong, North Gyeongsang Province, swept across Korea's southeast, leaving at least 26 dead, 19 injured and displacing over 27,000 people.

The fires, driven by strong winds and dry weather, have ravaged seven neighboring cities and counties, the government said Wednesday, destroying over 31,000 hectares of forest and 257 buildings, including houses, temples and factories.

Authorities planned to deploy 87 helicopters to extinguish the fire in densely populated areas and mobilize 5,421 personnel. However, strong winds are hindering firefighting efforts.

A firefighting helicopter crashed on a mountain in Uiseong at 12:54 p.m. while carrying out a water supply operation, killing the pilot, according to the Korea Forest Service.

The cause of the accident is under investigation. In the meantime, forest authorities halted firefighting operations of all helicopters across the affected regions.

Houses are left charred in Yeongdeok County, North Gyeongsang Province, after wildfires swept through the county, Wednesday. Yonhap

In Andong, a man in his 80s was found burned to death at a house that was completely destroyed by fire around 11 a.m., according to police.

As a result, the wildfire death toll rose to 26 on Wednesday. Of the victims, four were found in Andong, three in Cheongsong, six in Yeongyang and 10 in Yeongdeok, as of 8 p.m.

Most of the victims were aged over 60 and had mobility difficulties which prevented them from escaping the blaze.

Since last week, the fires have displaced 27,079 residents in the affected areas, including 20,313 in Uiseong and Andong, 13,391 in Cheongsong, 980 in Yeongyang and 2,208 in Yeongdeok, with many taking shelter in Uiseong Indoor Gymnasium or nearby schools.

Evacuees take shelter at the Yeongyang County Community Center in Yeongyang, North Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday. Yonhap

At around 1 p.m. the blaze spread to Jirisan National Park, which lies on the boundary between North Jeolla Province, South Jeolla Province and South Gyeongsang Province.

While train services resumed at noon Wednesday after being suspended the day before, highways in some parts of the southeastern region remained closed for safety.

Meanwhile, traffic jams ensued on National Route 7, which connects Gangwon Province to Busan along the east coast, as residents fled south to unaffected parts of the country after receiving evacuation orders.

The Ministry of Justice said around 500 inmates at a prison in North Gyeongsang Province were transferred to another facility overnight to escape the flames.

The ministry initially considered transferring some 3,500 inmates from several correctional facilities in the southeastern region but decided to reduce the number as some of the fires were extinguished.

Firefighting officials watch the fire spread among mountains around Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday. Yonhap

The fires also disrupted telecommunications and briefly blocked phone and internet services in affected areas on Wednesday night.

The Ministry of Science and ICT issued a disaster roaming order to mobile carriers and recovered service outages. The ministry has undergone training with telecommunication companies to implement disaster roaming in case of war or natural disaster, but this was the first time the order had been issued.

The Ministry of National Defense announced that it is supporting the firefighting operations by deploying 990 additional firefighting personnel and 48 military helicopters to affected areas including Ulsan and the Gyeongsang provinces.

According to the ministry, a total of 6,000 military firefighting personnel and 242 military helicopters have been deployed since the fire broke out.

Four helicopters, including the Black Hawk (UH-60) and Chinook (CH-47), belonging to the U.S. Forces Korea, were also deployed to extinguish wildfires in Sancheong, South Gyeongsang Province, and were deployed in nearby areas later in the day.

The Ministry of Environment is cooperating closely with related agencies such as the Korea National Park Service and the National Institute of Ecology as the fires continue to spread.

Wildfires ravaging through southeastern Korea left a beachside village in Yeongdeok County, North Gyeongsang Province, in ruins, Wednesday. Yonhap