Japan Designates Ofunato Fire as Localized Severe Disaster

Tokyo, March 25 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government Tuesday decided to designate a massive wildfire in the northeastern city of Ofunato as a localized severe disaster.

With the designation, which applies to a particular city, town or village, the central government will subsidize half of the expenses for recovery work, including those for cutting down and transporting fire-ravaged trees and planting trees again in fire-swept areas.

The wildfire, which began on Feb. 26, was declared to be contained on March 9. On the following day, the city completely removed its evacuation order, which affected up to nearly 4,600 people.

About 2,900 hectares, or about 9 pct of the Iwate Prefecture city, were lost to the fire, with over 200 structures damaged, according to the city government.

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[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]