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OTSUCHI: Hundreds of firefighters are struggling to control wildfires in northern Japan’s forests on Saturday, while authorities have advised more than 3,200 residents to evacuate their homes, officials announced.
By Saturday morning, the fires in the rugged mountains of the Iwate region had scorched approximately 700 hectares (1,730 acres) over the past three days, according to local officials.
A massive plume of smoke, visible and detectable from 30 kilometers (roughly 20 miles) away, rose from the valley near Otsuchi, as two helicopters deployed water onto the burning woods.
Firefighters near Otsuchi were also actively spraying water on the forests close to residential areas threatened by the flames.
On Saturday, around a dozen helicopters and more than 1,300 personnel, including Japan Self-Defense Forces troops, were dispatched to combat the fires.
At least eight structures have been destroyed, but all residents have already evacuated, officials confirmed.
“We are making efforts to put out the fires and will provide updates later today,” an official from Iwate stated to AFP.
A local man in Otsuchi expressed hope for rain, stating, “Hopefully, it will rain soon.”
Increasingly dry winters have heightened wildfire risks in the region. Last year, a fire in Ofunato city in Iwate was recorded as Japan’s worst in over fifty years.
Experts have long warned that climate change—driven by human fossil fuel consumption—is intensifying drought conditions, prolonging dry spells, and creating prime conditions for wildfires to spread more easily.
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