Countryside ablaze: Forest fires raging in Okayama. — AP
Wildfires have hit several regions in western Japan, injuring at least two people, forcing dozens of residents to evacuate and damaging a number of homes as hundreds of firefighters battled the widening blazes in the mountainous areas.
The fires in the western towns of Okayama, Imabari and Aso broke out on Sunday, quickly burning hundreds of hectares.
Defence helicopters battling smoke rising in Imabari, Ehime prefecture. - AP
Six homes have been damaged in city of Okayama, where a fire started on Mount Kaigara and burned 250ha of the forest.
In Imabari, in the Ehime prefecture on the main island of Shikoku, the fire left a firefighter slightly injured.
Firefighters and defence helicopters sprayed water but the blazes in the two prefectures had not been extinguished as of yesterday afternoon.
Smoke billowing from the Imabari forest. - AP
Experts blamed dry weather and dried-up fallen leaves on the ground in the forest as likely causes of the wildfires in Okayama and Imabari.
A smaller fire was detected in the mountainous village of Aso in the Kumamoto prefecture on the southern main island of Kyushu.
One person was injured slightly. Local media said the fire started while residents were burning trash. — AP
