Wednesday, March 26

At least 24 people are dead as wildfires rage across South Korea, destroying homes, businesses, and historic buildings as arid, dry weather and windy conditions help the blazes spread.

The fires are located across the eastern and southeastern portions of the country, including the cities of Andong and Ulsan, and they have been raging across the area for over five days now. At least 24 people are dead, and 20 others have been injured as the fires continue to spread quickly in the heavily-forested region.

Over a dozen fires broke out over the weekend, but many were contained quickly. Firefighters initially believed that they had contained all of the fires, but a resurgence arrived this week after weather conditions changed, and five fires remain burning across South Korea.

One fire near Andong forced evacuations and destroyed numerous structures, one of which was Gounsa, a 1,300-year-old Buddhist temple. Another fire in Uisong County is 68% contained, as of right now, but the open part of the fire is still spreading quickly, forcing evacuations in the coastal town of Yeongdeok. In total, the fires have burned over 43,000 acres.

The blazes are being fueled by extremely dry conditions with no precipitation, and strong winds are blowing the embers into other forests, allowing them to spread rapidly. Around 9,000 firefighters and 130 helicopters have been dispatched to help with the fires, but they will need help from the weather in order to be able to stop these fires.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): Contrary to popular belief, shaving does not thicken hair. Regrown hair is not thicker, coarser, or darker, it just looks like that because the hair grows back with a blunt tip.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Commit to a niche; try to stop being everything to everyone. (Andrew Davis)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Hobbit (noun, HAH-bit) - A hobbit is a member of a fictitious peaceful and friendly race of small humanlike creatures that dwell underground.

In a Sentence: The story was filled with all sorts of imaginary people, including hobbits.