Forest Fire in Iwate Pref. Forces Evacuation of More Than 500 People, in Area Hit by 2011 Tsunami

By The Japan News, OFUNATO, Iwate, Feb.27:  A wildfire in a forest in the Akasaki area of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, continued to rage on Thursday, having burned an area of at least 600 hectares, according to the prefectural and city governments. More than 80 houses and other buildings have been damaged by the fire.

Now into the second day of the fire, Self-Defense Forces firefighting helicopters and other aircraft dumped water onto the flames from the air.

There were no reports of injuries, but the prefectural police continued to check if anyone was left behind in the area.

The fire broke out at around 1 p.m. Wednesday. The prefectural government on the same day asked the Ground Self-Defense Force to help with disaster relief in the city based on the Disaster Relief Law.

The city issued evacuation advisories to 2,114 people in 873 households. Evacuation centers were set up at seven locations in Ofunato and the shelters held 540 people as of 7 a.m. Thursday. Power outages have affected around 500 buildings.

On Wednesday, it was not possible to dump water onto the fire from the air due to strong winds. On Thursday, SDF helicopters began operations at around 6:30 a.m. Aircraft, including those from Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures also were engaged in the firefighting work. Local fire brigades sprayed water from the ground.

The area was also affected by the tsunami triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Buildings reconstructed after the disaster may have been burnt.

On Feb. 19, another wildfire had broken out in a forest in Ofunato, but it was extinguished Tuesday after burning an area of 324 hectares. Shortly after, another wildfire ignited in the city and Rikuzentakata, also in Iwate Prefecture, and burned about eight hectares before being extinguished Wednesday.