Iwate Prefecture Blaze burns for 7th day; 8% of Ofunato’s Land Consumed as Residents Grow Weary of Evacuation

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:58 JST, March 4, 2025

The wildfire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, continued to rage for a seventh day on Tuesday and has now burned about 2,600 hectares, about 8% of the city’s area.

Evacuees from the city now number 3,941, 12% of the population, and weariness is growing among them.

Firefighters and 15 helicopters, including large Self-Defense Force helicopters and disaster prevention helicopters from Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, were scheduled to tackle the blaze on Tuesday, according to the Iwate prefectural government.

Evacuation orders issued so far cover 1,896 households and 4,596 residents. According to the city government, 1,215 people were sheltering in 12 evacuation centers and 2,726 people have moved to relatives’ homes and other places as of 7 a.m. Tuesday.

According to the Morioka local meteorological office, a mixture of rain and snow is expected to begin falling in the southern coastal areas of Iwate Prefecture, including Ofunato, from around 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Wednesday. It is expected to continue until at least Wednesday evening, with snow expected to accumulate up to 30-40 centimeters in some places.