TOKYO, March 7, 2025 (BSS/AFP) – Japan partially lifted evacuation orders on Friday after rainfall helped halt the spread of the country’s worst wildfire in more than 50 years.
The fire had been raging in the mountains surrounding the northern city of Ofunato for over a week, claiming one life and forcing over 4,200 residents to evacuate. However, wet weather, which began on Wednesday following a prolonged dry spell, significantly aided firefighting efforts.
Toshifumi Onoda, a local fire department official, confirmed on Friday that aerial reconnaissance showed no signs of the fire spreading, no fires reaching buildings, and no visible white smoke. Firefighters were set to enter the forests to ensure the fire had been completely extinguished.
City official Shinichi Matsukawa announced that evacuation orders for nearly 1,000 residents had been lifted.
The wildfire consumed approximately 2,900 hectares (7,170 acres), making it Japan’s largest in over five decades. This surpassed the 2,700 hectares burned by a 1975 fire on Hokkaido Island.
Last year, Japan experienced its hottest summer on record, and the impact of climate change has contributed to rising global temperatures. In February, Ofunato recorded only 2.5 millimetres (0.1 inches) of rainfall, breaking the previous record low of 4.4 millimetres set in 1967, far below the average of 41 millimetres.
At least 78 buildings are believed to have sustained damage, although further assessments are ongoing.
Supplementary Information:
Wildfires in Japan are most common between February and May, a period when the air tends to dry out, and winds increase. The frequency of wildfires in Japan has decreased since the 1970s, with approximately 1,300 wildfires reported annually in recent years. However, the increasing impact of climate change, alongside extreme weather conditions, poses a continuing challenge to the country’s disaster response strategies.
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