Wildfire in Iwate Prefecture in Japan Burns About 1,200 Hectares; More than 3,000 Forced to Evacuate Due to Fire Spreading (Update 1)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:18 JST, February 28, 2025

OFUNATO, Iwate — Firefighting efforts continued in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, as the forest fire spread on Friday, and the number of helicopters being used to help put out the fire has increased to 16.

About 1,200 hectares has burned, according to the city government.

The fire has burned down more than 80 homes, and the body of one person, who was presumably burned to death, was found on Thursday.

On Friday, six more helicopters were deployed to help with firefighting activities compared to the previous day.

Large helicopters from the Self-Defense Forces, as well as disaster relief helicopters from such prefectures as Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, have been dropping water to help fight the fire.

On Thursday, the city issued evacuation orders for an additional 1,192 people from 467 households, bringing the total to 3,306 people from 1,340 households, as a result of the fire spreading.

Evacuation shelters have been set up at seven locations, including a community center and an elementary school. As of 7 a.m. on Friday, 825 evacuees were taking shelter at an evacuation shelter.

After an evacuation order was issued on Thursday evening for residents living near Akasaki in Ofunato, about 290 people — more than three times the number compared to the previous day — temporarily evacuated to Rias Hall, a civic cultural hall in Sakari in the city.

A man whose house was inundated by the tsunami from the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 and who lived in temporary housing for nearly two years, said, “It was the first tsunami I’ve experienced, but now a wildfire?”

Govt sets up task force

The government on Friday upgraded the information liaison headquarters at the Prime Minister’s Office to an emergency task force to combat the forest fire in Ofunato.

“While ensuring the safety of the residents, we’ll do out utmost to contain the fire as quickly as possible through firefighting efforts, including aerial firefighting,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi at a press conference on Friday.