Over 1,000 firefighters are battling two major forest fires in Japan's northern Iwate region, with authorities urging nearly 3,300 people to leave their homes as the blazes approach residential areas.

The fires, which have been burning for three days, have scorched more than 700 hectares (1,730 acres), according to local government officials. The town of Otsuchi is particularly threatened, with about a third of its residents ordered to evacuate.

As of Saturday morning, 1,541 households and 3,233 people in the affected area had been advised to evacuate. Media reports indicate that the two fires have burned the third-largest area of any wildfire in Japan's history.

The blazes come as Japan experiences increasingly dry winters. Last year, the Iwate city of Ofunato saw Japan's worst wildfire in more than half a century, consuming 3,370 hectares.

Scientists have long warned that climate change caused by human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels, is leading to more intense and prolonged droughts that create favorable conditions for wildfires.

Source: www.dw.com