April 29, 2026
OTSUCHI, IWATE – Firefighting efforts continued at two locations in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on Tuesday, with forest fires in the town burning for a seventh day. The fires have now burned 1,633 hectares, and they are expected to be designated a severe disaster.
Monday afternoon saw the first rain since the fires broke out. While the town says the fires are “under control,” they are not yet fully extinguished.
At a press conference following a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, disaster management minister Jiro Akama announced that the forest fires are expected to be designated a “localized disaster of extreme severity.”
In the town’s Kirikiri district, where evacuation orders are in effect, smoke rising off the mountains had mostly disappeared by Tuesday morning, and the local volunteer firefighters surveyed the fire’s spread. Evacuation orders remained in effect for 1,558 households and 3,257 people as of Tuesday, according to the town. Self-Defense Forces aircraft continued to drop water from the air on Tuesday, while about 1,400 personnel, including members of the Emergency Fire Response Team, continued to fight the fires on the ground.
For a “localized disaster of extreme severity,” the central government will subsidize half of restoration costs, including for removing burned trees and reforestation of the affected areas.
“We want local government and victims to be able to focus on disaster recovery without financial or psychological concerns,” said Akama.