Forest fire in northern Japan damages buildings prompts evacuations

TOKYO - At least one person has died in a wildfire that damaged more than 80 buildings and forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents in Japan, the authorities said on Feb 27.

Military helicopters have been mobilised to try and douse the flames raging in forested areas of Ofunato in the northern region of Iwate.

Aerial footage from public broadcaster NHK showed the bright blaze reducing several houses to charred frames.

“One burnt body was discovered and transferred to a nearby police station,” a local police official told AFP.

Nearly 600 nearby residents have been evacuated, according to the Ofunato municipality.

As at the morning of Feb 27, city officials estimated that at least 84 buildings had been damaged by the fire.

Ofunato’s mayor Kiyoshi Fuchigami described the fire as “large-scale” on the evening of Feb 26, saying around 600ha of land – three times the size of Monaco – had been burned.

The cause of the blaze remained unknown, he added.

There were about 1,300 wildfires across Japan in 2023, concentrated in the February to April period, when the air dries out and winds pick up.

Ofunato has seen only 2.5mm of rainfall in February – on course to fall far below the previous record low for February of 4.4mm in 1967.

And 2024 was Japan’s hottest since records began, mirroring other nations as ever-rising greenhouse gas emissions fuel climate change.

In the case of the latest Iwate fire, “strong wind” from the west helped spread a series of smaller wildfires in the same area, Mr Fuchigami said.

One evacuee, a 45-year-old woman, told NHK that the fire had been approaching her house when she returned from work.

“I was relieved that my kids were safe,” she said.

Another evacuee, a 32-year-old man, told the broadcaster that