Over 80 Buildings Burned in Northern Japan Wildfire; 540 Residents Evacuate; Power Outage Hits 500 Buildings

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:06 JST, February 27, 2025

A wildfire that broke out on Wednesday in a forest area in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, has continued to spread, burning down an estimated over 80 homes and other buildings.

The Self-Defense Forces and local municipalities have been trying to contain the fire by dropping water from helicopters on Thursday. 540 local residents had been forced to evacuate as of Thursday morning, and a power outage affected 500 buildings.