The largest wildfire in decades hit Japan, forcing thousands of the people to evacuate.
According to BBC, Japan has deployed more than 2,000 firefighters backed by military helicopters to battle the biggest wildfire in the country in three decades.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA) on Monday, March 3, 2025, said that the devastating wildfire has killed at least one person and has burnt more than 5,200 acres around the northern Japanese city of Ofunato since Thursday while 4,600 residents are under evacuation advisories.
As per officials, around 2,000 have already left their houses and moved to their friends or relatives houses, and more than 1,200 residents have evacuated to shelters.
FDMA noted that an estimated 80 buildings have been damaged by Sunday, March 2, 2025.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told the parliament, “Although it is inevitable that the fire will spread to some extent, we will take all possible measures to ensure there will be no impact on people's homes.”
Usually January to March is the driest season in Ofunato, but the city in February received less rainfall in more than 20 years. The area only got 2.5 millimetres of rain, which is much less than the usual 41 millimetres for the second month of the year.
