Japan battles biggest wildfire in decades

TOKYO – Japan was battling its largest wildfire in more than three decades on March 1, one of several blazes that have killed one person and forced an evacuation of more than a thousand.

Flames are estimated to have spread over about 1,200ha in the forest of Ofunato in the northern region of Iwate since a fire broke out on Feb 26, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

“We’re still examining the size of the affected area, but it is the biggest since the 1992 wildfire” in Kushiro, Hokkaido, an agency spokesman told AFP.

That fire affected 1,030ha and set the previous record.

Around 1,700 firefighters were being mobilised from across the country, the agency said.

Aerial footage from public broadcaster NHK showed white smoke billowing up and covering an entire mountain.

Local police found the body of one person on Feb 27.

Over 1,000 nearby residents have been evacuated and more than 80 buildings were damaged as of Feb 28, according to the Ofunato municipality.

The cause of the blaze remained unknown.

Two other fires were also burning on March 1, in Yamanashi and Iwate.

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.

The number of wildfires has declined since the peak in the 1970s, according to government data.

But last year was Japan’s hottest since records began, mirroring other nations as ever-rising greenhouse gas emissions fuel climate change. AFP