THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
January 18, 2025 at 17:27 JST
ETAJIMA, Hiroshima Prefecture--A blaze that might have been triggered by explosives during a Maritime Self-Defense Force training exercise was still burning more than 24 hours after the first report to the fire department.
An evacuation order was lifted on Jan. 18 after the fire was deemed unlikely to spread to residential areas.
Earlier, about 160 residents were evacuated along with the occupants of a welfare facility.
There have been no reports of injuries.
The first call to the fire department was made at around 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 17 by a member of the MSDF 1st Service School here.
By then, the fire had spread from the Nagahama firing range to nearby hills.
As of 1 p.m. on Jan. 18, the fire had engulfed about 13 hectares of land, according to the Etajima Fire Department. There was no indication when it would be extinguished.
Members of a minesweeping unit were training in the use of explosives to detonate mines when the blaze broke out, according to the 1st Service School.
Officials tentatively ruled out any irregularities during the training exercise but said they were continuing with an investigation to determine if the activity was linked to the fire.
Masahiro Kosugi, the school principal, apologized for any inconvenience caused by the incident.
“Efforts will be made to prevent a recurrence,” he said.
School officials will look into whether the training manual had been followed properly because a warning of fire risks due to dry weather had been issued for the period when the exercise was held.
The fire is raging about 90 minutes by car from central Hiroshima city.
A blaze in January 2024 on Etajima island lasted for about five days and destroyed around 242 hectares, the equivalent of 50 Tokyo Domes.
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