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The Yomiuri Shimbun Buildings damaged by a forest fire are seen in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, at 1:55 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
14:02 JST, March 31, 2025
The city of Imabari in Ehime Prefecture, which was battling a large-scale forest fire, declared the fire to be contained on Monday morning. An evacuation order in place for 611 people from 333 households was fully lifted at 11 a.m. Monday, as it had become likely the fire would not spread further.
The fire broke out in the Nagasawa district of Imabari at around 3:55 p.m. on March 23. It was brought mostly under control due to rainfall on Thursday evening. On Friday, the city lifted the evacuation order for 5,377 people from 2,723 households.
On Monday morning, Imabari Mayor Shigeki Tokunaga and Toshiaki Takahashi, mayor of the neighboring city of Saijo, inspected the affected areas and determined that the fire was brought under control.
In total, the fire burned about 442 hectares in Imabari and Saijo. Two local volunteer firefighters were injured and 22 buildings were damaged.
