In brief
The fire, the worst seen in Japan in over 30 years, continues to rage through forested areas, prompting urgent firefighting measures.
Japan is currently facing its largest wildfire in more than three decades, which has wreaked havoc in the coastal city of Ofunato, resulting in the death of at least one person and prompting evacuation orders for thousands of locals. The wildfire, which has already engulfed approximately 1,800 hectares (4,500 acres), has been raging for several days and has expanded by 400 hectares since Saturday alone.The Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency reported that the blaze was first detected on Wednesday afternoon, and by that evening, at least 84 homes had sustained damage. Tragically, police discovered a man's body along a nearby road during area inspections on Thursday morning, a fact later confirmed by local authorities, though they provided few additional details. In response to the worsening situation, around 4,600 residents received mandatory evacuation orders earlier this week, with approximately 1,200 people seeking refuge in designated shelters as of Sunday morning.To combat the flames, nearly 1,700 firefighters from 14 prefectures have been mobilized since the outbreak of the fire. News broadcasts from NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, showcased aerial shots of firefighting aircraft navigating the thick smoke and battling the intense flames that have engulfed swathes of trees. It's still uncertain how effective the firefighting efforts have been or if there has been additional damage to properties since Wednesday. The cause of the wildfire remains under investigation.The last major forest fire in Japan was reported in 1992 on Hokkaido, where more than 1,000 hectares were affected, marking this incident as particularly significant. Ofunato experiences its driest period from January to March, and the Japan Meteorological Agency noted that the previous month was the driest February seen in over 20 years. In addition to the major wildfire, fire officials are also managing two smaller blazes: one in Yamanashi prefecture, which grew to 120 hectares, and another in Nagano prefecture that reached 100 hectares.
