Tokyo, November 24 - Japanese firefighters continue their efforts today to control a fire in Oita Prefecture (southwest of the country), which since November 18 has destroyed more than 170 homes and killed one person.
Although they have already managed to extinguish the flames in the residential area, authorities confirmed hotspots with temperatures between 30 and 50 degrees Celsius at four points in the mountainous forests to the east, as well as on the western slope of an uninhabited island, approximately 1.4 kilometers away.
The fires must be suppressed to avoid risks of spreading that would pose a danger to life, experts agreed after sharing the results of a study conducted with a drone equipped with a thermal camera.
A 76-year-old man died inside one of the hundreds of buildings destroyed, and nearly 200 people chose to evacuate to a shelter set up in a community hall.
Firefighters reported that on Monday they will continue working, both on the ground and from the air, with the aim of eliminating the danger around the city of Oita, near the fishing port of Saganoseki.
