In Japan, a forest fire has engulfed 700 hectares - thousands of people evacuated

In Japan on Saturday, hundreds of firefighters battled forest fires in the northern forests of the country amid authorities urging over 3,200 people to evacuate their homes, officials reported, UNN writes citing AFP.

Details

As of Saturday morning, fires in the mountainous areas of the Iwate region have engulfed about 700 hectares since the outbreak three days ago, local officials said in a statement.

A large column of smoke, whose smell could be felt 30 kilometers away, rose up the valley near the city of Otsuchi as two helicopters dropped water on the burning forest.

In Otsuchi, fire trucks sprayed the forest near houses close to the fire site.

The statement says that on Saturday, about a dozen helicopters and over 1,300 firefighters, as well as troops from Japan's Self-Defense Forces, will be mobilized to fight the fires.

It is noted that at least eight buildings have burned down, but all residents were evacuated.

"We are making efforts to extinguish (the fires)... and will update the information" later that same day, an official from Iwate told AFP.

"In the end, I hope it rains," a man in Otsuchi told public broadcaster NHK.

Supplement

Increasingly dry winters are raising the risk of forest fires. The fire that broke out in the city of Ofunato in Iwate at the beginning of last year was the most severe in Japan in over half a century.

Scientists have long warned that climate change caused by humanity's burning of fossil fuels will make drought periods more intense and longer-lasting, creating ideal conditions for forest fires.