THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
February 28, 2025 at 18:03 JST
OFUNATO, Iwate Prefecture--About 1,600 firefighters from 12 prefectures in eastern Japan were battling a forest fire here on the afternoon of Feb. 28.
A total of about 1,200 hectares have been scorched since the latest fire started two days ago.
At 11 p.m. on Feb. 27, the Iwate prefectural government asked the Fire and Disaster Management Agency to send more firefighting crews.
When the fire started on Feb. 25, about 700 firefighters from nearby Miyagi, Yamagata, Aomori, Akita and Fukushima prefectures were sent to Ofunato.
The following day, firefighters arrived from Ibaraki, Tochigi and Niigata prefectures.
Additional firefighters were dispatched to the scene from Gunma, Saitama, Tokyo and Chiba on Feb. 28.
The number of helicopters dumping water on the fire was increased from 10 to 15, with one being deployed from Niigata and two additional helicopters from the Self-Defense Forces.
(This article was written by Hiroki Koizumi and Shoko Rikimaru.)
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A Self-Defense Forces helicopter dumps water on the forest fire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Feb. 28. (Junichi Obata)
