Outdoor fire

A wildfire in northeast Japan continued burning for a fifth day Sunday, having scorched 1,373 hectares, as about 1,200 emergency firefighters and Self-Defense Forces personnel continued efforts to contain it, local officials said.The fire broke out in two districts in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on Wednesday afternoon, and has since burned eight buildings, including homes, according to local authorities.Iwate Prefecture said the latest figure was aerially confirmed as of 6 a.m. on Sunday, marking a sharp rise from 730 hectares estimated as of Friday.The town has ordered more than 3,000 people, or about 30 percent of its population, to evacuate.
Last year, a massive wildfire in Ofunato, also in Iwate Prefecture, burned around 3,370 hectares from late February before it was finally extinguished in early April.