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  "path": "/news/1995244/japan-deploys-1400-firefighters-to-battle-raging-wildfires-in-the-north",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-26T12:19:11.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.dawn.com",
  "tags": [
    "World"
  ],
  "textContent": "Japan has deployed 1,400 firefighters and 100 Self-Defence Force personnel to battle mountain blazes in ​the northern part of the country, with the fires, ‌now burning on Sunday for a fifth straight day, continuing to threaten a picturesque coastal town.\n\nThe area consumed by the fires reached 1,373 hectares as of early Sunday morning, up seven per cent from ​a day earlier.\n\nA helicopter conducts firefighting operations, as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan on April 26, 2026. — Reuters\n\nThe fires threaten residential districts of Otsuchi ⁠on the Pacific Coast — a town that lost nearly a ​tenth of its population in one of Japan’s worst disasters, the ​March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.\n\nEvacuation orders are in place for 1,541 households or 3,233 residents, roughly a third of Otsuchi’s population.\n\nA firefighter works as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan on April 26, 2026. — Reuters\n\n“Although the Self-Defence Forces are ​fighting the fires from the sky (with helicopters), the dry weather ​and winds are helping the fires expand,” Otsuchi Mayor Kozo Hirano told ‌a ⁠press conference.\n\nOne Otsuchi resident said he worried about the damage the wildfire could inflict.\n\nA firefighter works as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan on April 26, 2026. — Reuters\n\n“A fire burns everything down. With a tsunami, you might have something left after the destruction,” Yoshinori Komatsu, 74, said ​as he watched ​Self-Defence Force ⁠helicopters dump water over fires in the distance.\n\nThe only casualty to date has been one minor ​injury suffered when a person fell at an ​evacuation centre, ⁠Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said on its website.\n\nA firefighter works as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan on April 26, 2026. — Reuters\n\nNo rain is expected in the region on Sunday or Monday, but a ⁠brief ​shower is forecast on Tuesday, according ​to the Japan Meteorological Agency.\n\nThe cause of the fires is unclear and under investigation.",
  "title": "Japan deploys 1,400 firefighters to battle raging wildfires in the north"
}