Japan braces for worst forest fire in 30 years

Japan's disaster management agency on March 2 asked more fire departments across the country to join in responding to the country's worst wildfires in more than three decades.

Nearly 1,700 firefighters from 450 fire departments across Japan have joined efforts to control a forest fire in northeastern Iwate prefecture, Kyodo News reported, citing an announcement from the Japan Disaster Management Agency.

However, the fire has continued to spread for nearly a week and shows no signs of being contained. Therefore, more firefighters nationwide are being mobilized.

Wildfires rage in Ofunato, Japan

As of March 2, the forest fire had burned about 1,800 hectares. Ofunato City in Iwate Prefecture (the epicenter of the forest fire) issued an evacuation order to 4,600 households, of which more than 1,200 people have been taken to shelters.

"We are still checking the scale of the affected areas but this is the biggest forest fire since 1992," AFP quoted a spokesman for the Japan Disaster Management Agency as saying.

At least one person has died and more than 80 homes have been destroyed since the fire broke out on February 26. Images captured by NHK showed white smoke billowing from the areas where the forest fire occurred.

People in a shelter during evacuation due to the Ofunato forest fire

Ofunato saw record low rainfall this past February, even lower than the lowest recorded in 1967. 2024 is the year Japan records the highest temperature ever.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhat-ban-cang-minh-ung-pho-chay-rung-nghiem-trong-nhat-hon-30-nam-185250302235953155.htm