At least one person has died and thousands have been evacuated as Japan fights record-breaking wildfires that continue to burn on the main island’s east coast.
The Ofunato wildfire, in Iwate prefecture, has more than doubled in size in the past three days to become Japan’s largest for 33 years, and as of Sunday covered about 1,800 hectares (4,500 acres).
Japan’s fire and disaster management agency (FDMA) said at least 84 homes had already been damaged by Wednesday, when it first learned of the wildfire.
One body was discovered in the Shoji district of Sanriku-cho Ryoiri, local news reported.
More than 3,600 residents from over 1,300 households have been evacuated from affected areas, according to officials.
More than 1,200 people are sheltering in evacuation centres and publicly-run welfare facilities, national broadcaster NHK reported.
Schools have been closed and local train services have been suspended in the affected areas to ensure public safety.
“It was like a volcanic explosion. The flames were rising in the sky with tremendous force. It was scary,” a 67-year-old resident who escaped her home told NHK.
Aerial footage posted on social media showed houses gutted by fire with thick smoke covering a number of towns in the region, located about 480 km (300 miles) northeast of Tokyo.
The fire has since spread, intensifying north and west of central Sanriku-cho Ryoiri, and recent footage by NHK also shows smoke rising from areas bordering the district.
Officials say nearly 1,700 firefighters have been dispatched from across the country to fight the blaze.
Strong winds and dry conditions initially hindered fire management operations, but officials say helicopters have been deployed to manage the spread of the blaze.
“There is no sign of the momentum of the fire weakening, but I hope that you can somehow suppress it with this firefighting power,” the mayor of the affected city said in a statement.
The Japan Times reported that this is the country’s largest wildfire since at least 1992, when a blaze burned nearly 1,000 hectares (2500 acres) on the northern island of Hokkaido.
The disaster has struck Japan as the country endured its driest February in over two decades. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, according to the FDMA.
