A charred body has been found, and more than 84 homes have been engulfed in raging forest fires in northeastern Japan, as firefighters battled intense blazes fuelled by strong, dry winds.
More than 2,000 panicked residents have evacuated Ofunato in Iwate Prefecture since Wednesday, fleeing the third fire outbreak in a week.
The blaze has swept across 600 hectares of land in Ofunato, the municipal government said, reducing everything in its path to ashes. However, the damage is expected to be even more extensive, as some areas have yet to be surveyed.
Aerial videos showed several houses being gutted by fire, with thick smoke blanketing towns as firefighters worked around the clock to prevent the inferno from reaching densely populated areas.
Ofunato mayor, Kiyoshi Fuchigami, said at a news conference on Thursday morning that firefighting operations had been ongoing since Wednesday.
“Aerial helicopter firefighting operations have been underway since this morning. There is no doubt that work to extinguish the fire will be extremely difficult given the strong winds, but we will do our utmost to suppress the fire as quickly as possible,” he added.
A charred body was recovered from the area with police investigating whether the person died in the wildfire, officials said, according to Kyodo.
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, stated that the central government would work closely with local authorities to provide necessary support.
“We ask all residents in the area to continue to pay close attention to evacuation information from the local government and to give priority to ensuring their own safety,” he said.
All schools and kindergartens in the affected area were shut down on Thursday.
Around 500 homes were without power, and a section of a train line in the city was also suspended, according to local authorities.
A 67-year-old resident who escaped her home told NHK broadcaster: “I am so distressed. I could not sleep. It was like a volcanic explosion. The flames were rising in the sky with tremendous force. It was scary.”
Another woman, 82, said she saw grass burning at 2pm on Wednesday and fled her home with just medicines and her late husband's mortuary tablet in a backpack.
She said she saw smoke rising from her home, realising she could have died if she had stayed back.
Strong wind and dry air warnings were in place in the area when the latest fire broke out.
It came just a day after authorities fought a wildfire on Tuesday after it broke out on 19 February in Tahama district. A fire also broke out in the city of Rikuzentakata, where eight hectares of land was swept into fire before it was extinguished on Wednesday at around noon.
