The agency also said one person has died and over 80 homes have burned.
The wildfire surpassed the previous burned area record of 2,545 acres (1,030 hectares) set in 1992 in Kushiro, FDMA said. That makes this fire the largest wildfire since the nation’s Heisei era, which lasted from 1989 through 2019.
Crews fighting Ofunato wildfire. Credit: FDMA
FDMA said 17 fire brigades made up of 2,569 people were fighting the fire as of Friday afternoon. The brigades include a command support team from the Tokyo Fire Department and helicopters from Fukushima Prefecture Disaster Prevention.
Japan Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba dedicated “maximum effort” towards firefighting activities to prevent the fire from further spreading into residential areas, a statement from Ishiba’s office said. He also advised crews to work closely with local governments to provide evacuation assistance and the recovery of affected residents.
Via Google Maps
Any fire that burns more than 25 acres (10 hectares) is considered a “large” wildfire, according to Tohoku University combustion researcher Samuel Manzello.
The frequent high winds that Japan experiences can cause massive conflagrations, but despite that, the nation has only taken minimal concrete steps toward preparing for future fires, according to Manzello.
“Japan is not prepared for the (Wildland-Urban Interface) fire threat, as there have been no major efforts to address it here,” Manzello told Wildfire Today. “At the same time, in Japan, fire researchers believe a wrong impression that WUI fires are a problem that only bothers famous people. In general, WUI fires are often reported in the Japanese news media from the perspective of famous Hollywood people losing their homes.”
Many of the fires in southern California remain active but there is no shortage of views on what went wrong or right, what could or couldn’t be done, who is to blame and what do we all do now?
Wildfire Today is keen to find the most important lessons to be learnt from these fires.
Terms like “unprecedented” and “unpredicted” are not helpful – especially when we have seen it before and knew it could happen again. Those term take away responsibility and action. They excuse the fact that things could have been done, by many.
Dr Marty Alexander, long time Canadian wildland fire researcher, has reminded Wildfire Today of the 1974 publication by Clive M. Countryman, “Can Southern California Wildland Conflagrations be Stopped?”.
Countryman was at the time of writing a wildland fire behavior scientist with the USDA Forest Service in southern California. His paper was a reflection of the 1970 fire season in California where 16 people died and more than 200 000 hectares of land burned, and around 700 homes lost.
His statement on The Fire Problem barely differs from today:
Climate, fuels, topography and people create fire problems
Relatively few fires become conflagrations
Conflagrations are most frequent during Santa Ana winds
Suppression of Santa Ana fires is difficult
His other conclusions include:
Fire prevention has limited value
Firefighting techniques and equipment and not adequate
His solutions then rely on a range of fuel modification measures.
For more nostalgia, watch these 1971 newsreels – on the same topic, same problem:
Having looked back to see what we already know, Wildfire Today now turns to finding a way through new wildfire challenges.
Here are some tough questions for starters:
Evacuations
To have a large fire in such a heavily populated area with so few deaths or injuries is extraordinary. This suggests the evacuation process was largely successful – people were moved out of harms way. And yet we saw those abandoned vehicles on narrow mountainous roads that funnelled people onto Palisades Drive and Sunset Boulevard , panicked residents fleeing on foot, bulldozers shunting cars off the road to gain access for fire fighting vehicles – that’s not how an orderly evacuation is meant to work, that is last-minute, panicked fleeing. There are many international examples of disorderly evacuations going horribly wrong.
Is there are better way to get thousands of people out of the way of a fast moving wildfire? If evacuations occur well before the flames arrive that would help. But how early do you do early evacuations? When is it too late to leave? Where do 100,000 people evacuate to?
Suppression
As Carpenter noted in 1971 we need to all understand that once a fire gets to this size under these conditions all attempts to simply put it out are futile. The focus is on protecting people and strategic assets. The fire fighters on the ground and in the air understand this. Does the wider community understand this?? Does this explain all the anger that “someone should have done something”, and the thinking that if it wasn’t for a few empty hydrants and grounded aircraft (due to high winds) the fire would have been suppressed?
Fuel management
Many, many others since Carpenter have said you have got to better manage the fuels if you want to have any chance of managing the fire. What does good fuel management look like in southern California and when do we know that we have done enough? Would have it made a difference for these fires when it looks more like an urban conflagration with house to house burning?
Built environment
Are we living in the wrong places? If we know that wildfires are inevitable, why do we build homes in the middle of the highest wildfire risk areas? Any other day, it is clearly a wonderful place to live. But on days like 7 January 2025, this place was hell on earth. Do we place faith in the development of “fireproof” structures, or do we just accept that homes will burn?
Recovery
Once the emergency response phase settles and the debris is cleared, what does long term recovery look like? How do we build back better without just repeating the same mistakes? How does a community put aside the blame and divisions to work together on building long term resilience, and be ready for the next, inevitable, big fire?
There have been many articulate voices in the last few days with this Los Angeles Times article one of the better ones. It draws on wildfire researcher Jack Cohen, who encourages us to abandon our thoughts that this was a wildland fire and see it more as an urban fire that leapt from house to house, and fire historian Stephen Pyne who places today’s fire within a century of fires across a whole continent:
The Yellow Lake Fire has burned 32,919 acres of Utah’s Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest and is at 29% containment as of Wednesday morning, officially making it the state’s largest wildfire of the season.
The fire triggered mandatory Level 3 (Go) evacuation orders for all residents, hunters, and recreationists in the North and West Forks of Duchesne River and the Granddaddy Lakes area. A Level 2 (Set) order is in place for the community of Hanna. A widespread closure of the forest is also in effect until fire conditions improve.
Nearly 800 personnel are working the fire as jackpot fuels continue to spread fire growth. A Red Flag Warning was also put into effect for the area until 6 p.m. Wednesday night.
The Yellow Lake Fire burning in Utah’s Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. Credit: InciWeb
Officials praised previously completed fuel-thinning projects throughout the forest for slowing fire progress and expect coming rain and snow on Thursday to further limit fire growth.
“Fire managers say the biggest concern is the northwest corner of the fire,” Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest officials said in the fire’s Wednesday update. “Aircraft equipped with infrared technology flew the fire last night and detected intense heat around the ‘nose’ of the fire that extends toward Iron Mine Road.”
A total of 1,219 fires have burned 90,836 acres across Utah in 2024, according to Utah Fire Info. The Yellow Lake Fire is by far the state’s largest fire of the year, followed by the Silver King Fire at 18,222 and the Deer Springs Fire at 11,766. Humans caused 686 fires, whereas 454 fires were confirmed to be naturally caused. The cause of 79 fires have yet to be determined.
The Squilchuck Road Fire has burned an undisclosed amount of acres and sits at 30% containment near the Washington State community of Wenatchee Heights, according to Chelan County Emergency Management.
Chelan County Sheriff’s Office issued a Level 3 (Go Now) evacuation order for Wenatchee Heights throughout the West end of Connery Road to the North end of Jim Smith.
A Level 2 (Set) evacuation order was previously in place for the 3200 block of Squilchuck Road, but that was lowered to a Level 1 (Ready) evacuation order Monday morning.
Squilchuck Road Fire. Credit: Chelan County Emergency Management
The evacuations happened just two days after Washington Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz held an “end-of-wildfire-season” press conference at Deer Park Airport, according to The Seattle Times. There, Franz said an estimated 308,000 acres burned throughout the state in 2024, more than the 151,000 in 2023 and 174,000 in 2022, but less than the 674,000 in 2021 and 842,000 in 2020. She also said firefighters kept 95% of the more than 1,400 ignitions this year under 10 acres.
“Our progress to date is truly a testament of the infrastructure investments we have made year after year and how we are fighting our fires more strategically,” said Franz, who is in the final three months of her term, as she is running for Congress.
The state’s forest service is fighting multiple fires mainly in the western half of the state, according to the National Interagency Fire Center‘s infrared map. Those fires include:
The Bear Den Fire, which started Saturday morning, has burned an estimated 10,000 acres near the Fort Berthold Reservation as of Sunday afternoon.
The Elkhorn Fire, which started Saturday evening, has burned an estimated 10,000 acres south of Watford City.
The Sprint Creek Fire, which started Saturday afternoon, has burned an estimated 5,000 acres south of Watford City.
Credit: North Dakota Governor’s Office
NIFC’s map indicated numerous other hotspots throughout the state Sunday afternoon, but these have not yet been named or confirmed as active wildfires.
“Several large wildfires were being fought in western North Dakota this evening including near Grassy Butte, near Johnson’s corner along Highway 73 and near Mandaree,” Burgum said late Saturday night. “Evacuation orders were issued in multiple areas and temporary shelters were opened for those displaced.”
The Williams County Sheriff’s Office reported 26-year-old Johannes Nicolaas Van Eeden of South Africa died of fire-related injuries in the Ray area, according to the Bismarck Tribune. The local paper said South Africans often come to the state to work as farmhands. Another unidentified individual was taken to a local medical facility with critical injuries.
The National Weather Service’s Bismarck Office issued a Red Flag Warning, High Wind Warning, and Wind Advisory for much of the state Saturday, when the state’s biggest fires started. Fire conditions were worsened by Extreme to Moderate Drought intensity in the state’s western half, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Critical fire conditions have since subsided.
“Widespread high winds impacted the region yesterday with multiple sites seeing wind gusts above 75 mph. Luckily winds will remain light through this week,” the office tweeted Sunday.
Credit: North Dakota Governor’s Office
The North Dakota Forest Service previously deployed multiple engines and crews to the fires, along with two North Dakota National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and more than two dozen National Guard firefighters, Burgum said. Two heavy air tankers from Montana also dumped fire retardant while bulldozers and motor graders cut fire lines near the community of Mandaree.
The pause in fire-spreading weather will help firefighters get a foothold on the wildfires, according to USFS Dakota Prairie Grasslands.
“On the east side of the fire, near the Little Missouri River, the North Dakota National Guard is utilizing a helicopter to perform water drops to help contain the fire,” forest service officials said Sunday. “Local, state, and federal resources are working together performing suppression activities around the perimeter of the fire. Additionally, two hand crews are en route to the incident.”
The Elk Fire burning throughout Wyoming’s Big Horn National Forest near the town of Dayton triggered evacuations late Tuesday night and expanded evacuation warnings for nearby residents Wednesday.
The fire, which lightning first ignited on Sept. 27, has burned 49,555 acres in North-Central Wyoming along the border of Montana and closed the major roadway of US Highway 14. It sits at 0% containment as of Thursday morning.
“The conditions we’re experiencing on this fire are unprecedented…in these mountains,” Bighorn National Forest Supervisor Andrew Johnson said at a community meeting Wednesday night. “The temperatures we’ve been feeling don’t feel like October. The dryness we have does not feel like October. The relative humidity being so low doesn’t feel like October.”
The area is under a red flag warning with temperatures estimated in the low 70s, wind gusts up to 25 mph, and relative humidity around 20%. Dayton’s average max temperature since 1951 is 59.2 degrees, according to the Western Regional Climate Center.
Johnson also said fire crews are in this for the long haul, as the “unprecedented” weather conditions are expected to promote fire growth.
“Hot, windy weather is anticipated to start Friday afternoon and continue into Saturday. This weather will likely bring increased fire activity and spread,” the Big Horn National Forest’s update Thursday morning said.
USFS Bighorn National Forest
The Sheridan County Sheriff issued evacuations for residents along Pass Creek Road and Twin Creek Road west of Parkman, and Tongue River Canyon west of Dayton. “Set” evacuation warnings were set for residents on the Eagle Ridge Subdivision and those living east of U.S. Highway 14. The town of Parkman and residents north of the town on both sides of Highway 345 up to the Montana state line were put under “Ready” notices.
An evacuation center was set up at the Sheridan County Fairgrounds in the city of Sheridan.
“From when this fire was discovered Friday, it has been a hard fight,” Johnson said. “It has been resistant to control despite a lot of intense effort from the air and the ground.”
Credit: Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team 3
