A large fire tore through a densely populated coastal district of the city of Oita on Tuesday evening, destroying more than 170 homes and shops and leaving one resident missing, according to local authorities. Fire crews were still working to bring the blaze under control as of Wednesday morning.
The fire broke out at around 5:43 p.m. Tuesday in the city¡¯s Saganoseki area, about 25 kilometers east of the city center. Strong winds ¡ª with maximum instantaneous speeds of 43 kilometers per hour recorded shortly after 7 p.m. ¡ª helped the flames spread rapidly through the tightly packed neighborhood.
Multiple fire engines from the city and surrounding municipalities were dispatched under mutual aid agreements. A woman in her 50s was taken to a hospital with suspected burns to her airways, while a man in his 70s remains missing. TBS reported that a body has been found at the burnt remains of the man¡¯s residence, but it has not been confirmed if it is him. Police are working to confirm the identity of the individual.
The scale of the fire prompted the prefectural government to quickly escalate its response, with Oita Prefecture setting up a full disaster response headquarters on Tuesday night.
The city opened a shelter at the Saganoseki Community Hall, where the number of evacuees peaked at 188 people from 125 households at 10:45 p.m. Tuesday. As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, 170 people from 110 households remained displaced.
Shortly after midnight, the prefecture began coordinating a request for Self-Defense Forces deployment, officially making the call for relief at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
In a news conference Wednesday morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said that the central government has established an information liaison office at the Prime Minister¡¯s Office.
He also stated that the Fire and Disaster Management Agency has dispatched disaster-response helicopters from Oita and Kumamoto prefectures, which began aerial reconnaissance and water-dropping operations as of early Wednesday.
¡°We will continue to work closely with local authorities and provide all necessary support,¡± he added.
Around 270 households in the Saganoseki area were left without power as of 1:43 p.m. Wednesday, according to Kyushu Electric Power.
The fire also spread to the uninhabited island of Tsutashima approximately 1.5 kilometers from the Saganoseki coast, as of 10:50 p.m. Tuesday, the Asahi Shimbun reported.
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