2 Mountain Fires Burn 200 Hectares in Japan’s Iwate Pref., SDF Helicopters Brought In for Firefighting

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:25 JST, April 23, 2026

MORIOKA — Two mountain fires broke out in the town of Otsuchi in Iwate Prefecture on Wednesday afternoon, and the blazes continued on Thursday, burning more than 200 hectares of land.

Helicopters from the Self-Defense Forces and firefighters are among those working to extinguish the blazes.

According to the town and other sources, the areas burned by the fires totaled over 200 hectares as of Thursday morning. Seven structures, including residential houses, burned down. As many as 245 people from 102 households have evacuated.

Concern is doubly high as the town is part of the areas covered by the Japan Meteorological Agency’s advisory for subsequent earthquakes off the coast of Hokkaido and the Sanriku area following a magnitude 7.7 quake off the Tohoku region on Monday.

The first fire occurred in the town’s Kozuchi district at about 1:55 p.m. on Wednesday. At about 4:30 p.m., another fire broke out in the Kirikiri district about 10 kilometers away.

The Otsuchi municipal government issued an evacuation order for about 1,900 people in 900 households living in the area. A woman in her 60s fell and sustained a minor injury at a shelter where she had evacuated.

The SDF, which received the town’s request to dispatch members on a disaster relief mission, began fighting the fire in the Kirikiri district with helicopters from early in the morning on Thursday. They are to be joined by disaster relief helicopters from Aomori and Akita prefectures as well.

The town was devastated by tsunami following the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. When Monday’s quake occurred, a tsunami warning and an evacuation order were temporarily issued, both of which covered the areas where the fires are burning.

The fires seem to be nearing the town’s residential area.

“I couldn’t sleep because I’m so worried about my house,” said a 63-year-old woman who farms wakame seaweed. She spent the night at a shelter set up in an elementary school in the town. “I can’t do anything, even work,” she said.

She was preparing wakame for shipping near a local fishing port on Wednesday afternoon when she noticed white smoke rising from the direction of her house. She hurried home and saw smoke in the neighborhood and sparks flying. While she was spraying water on the ground of her premises, volunteer firefighters came along and urged her to go to the shelter.

When the massive earthquake occurred 15 years ago, her home was mostly destroyed by the tsunami, and she rebuilt her house on a hill. She still has a loan on the house. She had just evacuated from home after the tsunami warning on Monday, too.

“I felt scared because that quake reminded me of the disaster [in 2011],” she said. “I hope my house won’t burn down.”

According to the Morioka Local Meteorological Office, a dry weather advisory was issued for Otsuchi on Thursday morning. Heavy rain is not expected in the town for several days to come.