Japan Contains Large Wildfires After 11-Day Firefighting Battle

After nearly two weeks of relentless firefighting, the massive wildfires that tore through forests in northern Japan have been brought under control, officials said, ending an 11-day battle against what has been described as the country’s second-largest blaze in more than 30 years.

Since last month, hundreds of firefighters and more than 1,000 military personnel had been deployed to fight the flames as they swept across about 1,600 hectares in the mountainous Iwate region.

That burn zone is nearly five times the size of New York City’s Central Park.

According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, at least eight buildings were damaged and two people sustained minor injuries.

Otsuchi town mayor Kozo Hirano said reporters had been “informed that… the fire had been brought under control” after he toured the affected area alongside fire officials.

He said the flames were contained through a combination of aerial and ground firefighting efforts, along with heavy rainfall.

Still, Hirano said authorities would stay alert because smouldering embers could remain.

Kyodo News has described the fire as Japan’s second-largest wildfire in over 30 years.

Increasingly dry winters have heightened the risk of wildfires.

Last year, Iwate was hit by another wildfire that burned 2,600 hectares, the largest in Japan since 1975, when 2,700 hectares were destroyed by fire in Kushiro on the northern island of Hokkaido.

Scientists have long warned that climate change driven by mankind’s burning of fossil fuels will make droughts more severe and prolonged, creating the conditions in which wildfires can spread more easily.