Massive Wildfire in Northern Japan Destroys 84 Buildings

On Thursday Japan’s Iwate region in Ofunato city observed a major wildfire that burned 80 buildings and compelled authorities to send nearly 600 people from their homes. Because of strong wind gusts the forest fire traveled quickly across the area and burned most of the homes to ash.

NHK broadcast aerial images showing homes burned in Ofunato Japan while only hot ashes remained. As verified by officials on Thursday morning they found 84 buildings affected by the blaze. Self-Defense Forces used military helicopters to fight the wildfire by dropping water from above.

According to Mayor Kiyoshi Fuchigami, the huge blaze set new records because it burned through 600 hectares of land, which is three times the size of Monaco. Since the start of the incident, no damage to people has been reported. The team evaluating the fire is still working to identify its origin.

Japan experiences its maximum wildfires of 1,300 per year between February and April because of unusually dry wind patterns. Strong west winds united many small fires into a major disaster.

The 45-year-old woman from NHK coverage described her escape as she left her home before a fire approached and breathed a sigh of relief that her children had been saved. The 32-year-old man explained he had never seen fires burst into action one after another during this event. Firefighters work tirelessly to control the blaze while people must wait to see if authorities will let them go back home.