The fire began at different times on Sunday in two locations located some 12 kilometers apart. The fire in Hamaeup-ri began at 3:09 p.m. Sunday in a house and spread from there to a mountain nearby where it burned through 25 hectares of forest overnight. The fire in Hwangjo-ri began around 9:27 p.m. Sunday. Samcheok city government sent out text messages to its residents at 10:15 p.m., warning them of the fire. Some 50 residents of the townhouses evacuated to a town hall or school gyms. The fire burned through about 10 hectares of forest, authorities said on Monday, though they have not yet determined the exact causes of the fires. “The dry weather warning has been issued for 42 days in a row around the country,” said the Korea Forest Service. “Including the two fires in Samcheok, there have been 15 fires in the country just this weekend.” The Korea Forest Service raised the wildfire alert level from 1 to 2 on its 4-level system on Jan. 30. It said this is the first since 2007 that the wildfire alert level rose from 1 to 2. Samcheok is about 60 kilometers from Gangneung and Pyeongchang.