Firefighters Continue to Battle Massive Fire in Oita; Fire Suspected to Have Started in Northwestern Part of Burned Area

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:18 JST, November 20, 2025

OITA — A massive fire that broke out in the Saganoseki district of Oita City on Tuesday, may have started in the northwestern part of the burned area, according to the city fire department.

A strong wind advisory was in effect for the area at the time the fire broke out, and it is believed that strong westerly winds helped the fire to spread across a wider area. Firefighting operations continued on Thursday, as the fire remained uncontained more than 1½ days after it started.

According to the fire department, sources including witness accounts and initial reports pointed to the northwestern part of the burned area as the fire’s likely point of origin.

The fire was first reported to the fire department at about 5:40 p.m. on Tuesday. According to the city government’s disaster response headquarters and other sources, as of Thursday morning, the burned area spanned about 48,900 square meters, and more than 170 buildings had been damaged, including many vacant houses. The number of households affected by the fire was estimated at about 130. As of 7 a.m. on Thursday, 108 people from 70 households were sheltering in an evacuation center.

On Wednesday night, the Oita prefectural government conducted a thermal imaging survey using drones equipped with infrared cameras. This confirmed the existence of numerous high-temperature areas scattered throughout mountain forests, according to the prefectural government. Self-Defense Force helicopters joined in firefighting operations from early Thursday morning.

During a meeting at prefectural disaster response headquarters on Thursday, Oita Gov. Kiichiro Sato, who heads the headquarters, told attendees, “I want you to aim to bring the fire under control by the end of today.”

He later inspected the area near where the fire had burned.

The body of a person of unknown gender has been found in the burned ruins of the home of Kiyoshi Inagaki, 76, who is currently unaccounted for. The prefectural police are working to identify the body, which they suspect is Inagaki’s.