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The Yomiuri Shimbun Rain falls Wednesday morning in an area burned by the wildfire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
15:35 JST, March 5, 2025
The wildfire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, continued burning for an eighth day on Wednesday with the burnt area increasing by 300 hectares from the previous day to a total of about 2,900 hectares, or 9% of the city’s area.
On Wednesday, the city received a substantial amount of rain for the first time since the start of the fire. People staying at evacuation facilities expressed their hopes that the blaze would be extinguished soon.
Rain and snow began falling in the city at around 4 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Morioka Regional Meteorological Observatory. It was the first time in 16 days for some areas to get 0.5 millimeters or more of precipitation.
It was expected to rain or snow in the southern coastal areas of the prefecture, including Ofunato, from Wednesday afternoon to the evening.
The Yomiuri Shimbun A woman walks in the rain with an umbrella in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Wednesday.
A dry weather advisory that had been issued for 15 consecutive days in the southern coastal areas was lifted at 10:11 p.m. on Tuesday. “I’ve been hoping for rain. I hope the fire will be brought under control,” said a 78-year-old man who was staying at the Sanriku community center in the city.
The city instructed 4,596 people from 1,896 households in Ofunato to evacuate, and 4,111 of them — 13% of the city’s population — had done so as of 7 a.m. Wednesday. While 1,231 people had taken shelter in 12 centers in the city, another 2,880 had sheltered at relatives’ homes, hotels or elsewhere.
According to the prefectural government, 19 helicopters, including eight large Self-Defense Forces helicopters and disaster prevention helicopters from Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, were scheduled to tackle the blaze depending on weather conditions Wednesday. Firefighters on the ground continued their efforts to extinguish the fire.
