Iwate Forest Fires Evacuate 3,200 Near Otsuchi on Day 4

Two forest fires that ignited in Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, on Wednesday afternoon continued to rage uncontained into their fourth day on Saturday, forcing the evacuation of more than 3,200 residents from areas near the town of Otsuchi and threatening nearby homes as firefighting efforts intensified.

The first blaze erupted around 3 p.m. in a mountainous area of the Kirikiri district, roughly 10 kilometers from Otsuchi, while a second fire broke out about two hours later in the Kozuchi district closer to residential zones. Strong winds and dry conditions fueled the spread, with flames advancing toward multiple neighborhoods. Local authorities expanded evacuation orders to cover 1,541 households and 3,233 people, affecting about a third of Otsuchi's residents. As of Saturday morning, the fires had scorched more than 700 hectares of forest, according to officials, marking the third-largest wildfire in Japan by area burned, behind a 2025 blaze in Ofunato that consumed about 3,370 hectares and a 1992 fire in Kushiro that affected 1,030 hectares.

More than 1,300 firefighters, including teams from outside the prefecture, were deployed on the ground, supported by about a dozen...