OFUNATO, Iwate Prefecture—The Ofunato government on March 7 partially lifted evacuation orders for a huge forest fire here, bringing long-awaited relief for residents in this northeastern city.

But the fire was still threatening other parts of Ofunato.

The order was lifted at 10 a.m. for 957 people living in six areas of the city’s Akasakicho district, specifically: 40 people in Shuku; 364 in Nochinoiri; 107 in Morikko; 185 in Ohora; four in Oikata; and 257 in Yamaguchi.

It was the first time an evacuation order has been lifted in Ofunato since the wildfire broke out 10 days ago.

City officials made the decision after judging that there was no danger of the fire spreading to new areas, that the lifting would not hinder firefighting activities on the ground, and that there would be no interruption to lifelines.

“This is exactly what we have been waiting for,” Ofunato Mayor Kiyoshi Fuchigami said at a news conference about the decision. “We would like to make progress toward revitalization, starting today.”

Since March 6, the city had been considering lifting the evacuation order for the area in the Akasakicho district near Ofunato Bay, as well as the Horei area in the Sanrikucho district.

City officials said they will continue monitoring the situation before making a decision for those areas.

According to local fire officials, as of the morning of March 7, no spread of the fire or white smoke were confirmed, but officials were keeping an eye out on whether the fire was still smoldering in the mountains.

The evacuation order remains in place for 3,639 people in 1,481 households, including the entire Ryori area in the Sanrikucho district.

“It is our job to make up for the differences between those who have returned to their homes and those who have been forced to live in shelters for a long time,” the mayor said, promising to provide detailed support to those still in refuge.

PLAY BALL!

Yumeto Yamaguchi, 7, a first-grader at Akasaki Elementary School, let out a scream of joy when he found that his school was still standing.

“We can play baseball!” he said.

The boy had been staying at a relative’s house in the city.

As soon as he returned home, he and his mother Chizuko, 44, rushed to the school with his bat and glove, and they played catch in the light snow.

“I wanted to play baseball the whole time. I couldn’t do much physical activity during the evacuation.

From now on, I’m going to play baseball with all my might,” he said excitedly.

Seietsu Yamaguchi, 64, who lives in the Ohora area, rushed back to his home, worried about his two dogs and 20 chickens that he had left behind.

“I'm glad they are safe,” he said. “I fed them right away, and they were all chowing down.”

He had evacuated to his sister’s house with his wife and three sons after leaving a lot of food for the dogs and chickens.

He said the 2011 tsunami swept away his house, and he had to build a new home on higher ground.

“After all the hardships we went through, now this wildfire. It is truly a disaster,” he said.

Kiyoshi Konno, 58, a company employee in the Nochinoiri area, left his parents at his sister’s house in neighboring Rikuzentakata city. He had been staying in his car by himself since the evacuation order was issued.

“My 87-year-old mother wouldn’t take a bath at my sister’s house no matter how many times I told her to do so,” he said. “I want to give her a bath right away, so I just turned on the water and warmed up the rooms. She should be coming home in my sister’s car later.”

Konno’s light wagon in which he slept was filled with his belongings. He said the seats could not be folded down, so he was unable to stretch out his legs.

“I went around the house and saw no problems,” he said in relief. “There are people whose houses have burned down in the same Akasakicho neighborhood, so I feel like I can’t be happy. But I am glad. I can sleep well tonight.”

A man in his 70s went back to his house in Nochinoiri, where he lives alone.

He had been staying in his car since March 1, and he could never feel relaxed because he could not take a bath. The first thing he did when he returned was to boil water for a bath.

“Now I want to cook rice and eat slowly. I will check the refrigerator and think about a menu using what I have,” he said.

(This article was written by Saori Kuroda, Yoshikazu Sato, Takemichi Nishibori and Hideyuki Miura.)