The city of Ofunato in Iwate Prefecture has declared that a massive forest fire that had ravaged the city since Feb. 26 has been extinguished.
Officials said Monday that there was no longer a risk of the fire breaking out again, after finding no heat sources during checks from the ground and from the air this month.
The city said on March 9 that the blaze has been contained, fully lifting related evacuation orders the following day, but some 194 people whose homes were affected by flames are still living in evacuation centers or at relatives' homes.
"We will give top priority to rebuilding the lives of the people affected by the disaster and reviving their livelihoods," Ofunato Mayor Kiyoshi Fuchigami said at a news conference Monday.
Akira Niinuma, chief of the Ofunato fire department, told the news conference that it took time to extinguish the fire after containing it because "the fire spread over a wide area."
The blaze started around 1 p.m. on Feb. 26 in the city's Akasakicho district. It consumed a total of roughly 2,900 hectares, or some 9% of the total city area, making it one of the largest wildfires in Japan since the start of the Heisei era in 1989.
Kichiro Shibata from the city's Sanrikucho-Ryori district, then 90, died due to the fire.
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