About 4,600 residents remain under evacuation notices while the fire rages in the northern region of iwate, killing at least one person last week.
More than 2,000 firefighters, supported by military helicopters, fight against the largest forest fire in Japan in three decades, while the fire burns thousands of hectares of land every day.
Officials said on Monday that around 4,600 residents remain under evacuation notices while the fire was raging in the northern region of iwate, killing at least one person last week.
The fire, which broke out near the city of Oftato, follows low record precipitation in the region and the hottest summer of last year across Japan, because climate change increases temperatures in the world.
“Although it is inevitable that the fire spreads to a certain extent, we will take all possible measures to ensure that there will be no impact on people’s houses,” Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told Parliament.
The fire has consumed about 5,200 acres (2,100 hectares) of land since it started on Thursday, the country’s fire and disaster management agency (FDMA) announced on Monday.
“We are still examining the size of the affected area, but it is the largest since the 1992 forest fire” in Kushiro, the FDMA Hokkaido spokesman for the AFP news agency said on Saturday.
The firefighters of 14 Japanese regions, including the Tokyo units, were attacked at the fire, with 16 helicopters – including the army – trying to extinguish the flames.
It is estimated that he damaged 84 buildings on Sunday, although the details are still being evaluated, said the FDMA.
About 2,000 people left the region to stay with friends or parents, while more than 1,200 have evacuated in shelters, according to officials.
Ofunato images on the NHK national broadcaster have shown orange flames near buildings and white smoke that escapes in the air.
Although the number of forest fires in Japan has decreased since the 1970s since the government, the country has further recorded approximately 1,300 incidents of this type in 2023, concentrated from February to April when dry air and winds are strengthened.
Ofunato saw only 2.5 mm (0.1 inches) of precipitation in February – beating the previous record for the month of 4.4 mm in 1967 and below the usual average of 41 mm.
Some extreme types of time have a well -established bond with climate change, such as heat waves or strong precipitation. Other phenomena such as droughts, snowstorms, tropical storms and forest fires can result from a combination of complex factors.
