Two large forest fires in Japan’s Iwate prefecture have prompted authorities to order thousands of residents to leave as flames advanced toward populated areas. Local officials say the blazes have burned roughly 700 hectares (1,730 acres) since igniting three days ago.
Emergency crews fighting the fires include about a dozen helicopters, more than 1,300 firefighters and personnel from the Japan Self-Defense Forces. At least eight buildings were destroyed, though those occupants had already evacuated. The town of Otsuchi is especially at risk: roughly a third of its residents were instructed to evacuate. By Saturday morning, 1,541 households — 3,233 people — had been advised to leave their homes.
Media reports indicate the two fires have scorched the third-largest area of any wildfire recorded in Japan. The incidents come amid increasingly dry winters across the country. Last year, nearby Ofunato in Iwate experienced the nation’s worst wildfire in more than half a century, when 3,370 hectares burned.
Scientists warn that human-caused climate change, driven in part by the burning of fossil fuels, is producing longer, more intense droughts that increase the likelihood and severity of wildfires.