More than 2,000 firefighters were battling Japan’s biggest forest fire in three decades, officials said yesterday, as about 4,600 residents remain under an evacuation advisory.
One person died last week in the blaze in the northern region of Iwate, which follows record low rainfall in the area and last year’s hottest summer on record across Japan, as climate change pushes up temperatures worldwide.
“Although it is inevitable that the fire will spread to some extent, we will take all possible measures to ensure there will be no impact on people’s homes,” Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in parliament.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The fire near the city of Ofunato has burned through about 2,100 hectares since Thursday, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said yesterday.
Firefighters from 14 Japanese regions, including units from Tokyo, were tackling the blaze, with 16 helicopters — including from the military — trying to douse the flames.
It is estimated to have damaged 84 buildings by Sunday, although details were still being assessed, the agency said.
About 2,000 people have left the area to stay with friends or relatives, while more than 1,200 evacuated to shelters, officials said.
Morning footage from Ofunato on national broadcaster NHK showed orange flames close to buildings and white smoke billowing into the air.
The number of wildfires in Japan has declined since the peak in the 1970s, government data showed. However, there were about 1,300 across the nation in 2023, concentrated in the February-to-April period when the air dries and winds pick up.
Ofunato saw just 2.5mm of rainfall last month — breaking the previous record low for the month of 4.4mm in 1967 and below the usual average of 41mm.
Some types of extreme weather have a well-established link with climate change, such as heatwaves or heavy rainfall. Other phenomena like droughts, snowstorms, tropical storms and forest fires can result from a combination of complex factors.
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