Two separate wildfires in mountain forest areas of Okayama and Ehime prefectures that started over the weekend continued to blaze on Monday, having burned at least 370 hectares of land between them as firefighters tried to put them out.
This is the second time the country has seen an unusually large wildfire in recent weeks, following one in Iwate Prefecture last month that ultimately burned 2,900 hectares. Although not as widespread, another fire had been reported in Yamanashi Prefecture last month as well.
The fire within the city of Okayama that began Sunday afternoon had, as of Monday morning, burned through 250 hectares of land and damaged at least six buildings in the region. Evacuation orders have been issued to 893 people across 403 households so far.
