Japan’s Worst Urban Fire In 50 Years Destroys 170 Buildings and Leaves One Dead In Oita City

The massive Oita blaze destroyed over 170 buildings, displaced residents, spread to forests, and marked Japan’s worst urban fire in decades.

Japan has been hit by its most devastating urban fire in nearly half a century after a massive blaze ripped through more than 170 buildings in the Saganoseki district of Oita City, killing one person and displacing dozens of families.

The fire, which began late Tuesday evening, quickly spread across the hilly coastal community, fuelled by strong winds sweeping in from the nearby fishing harbour famous for its premium Seki-brand mackerel. Aerial footage from local broadcasters showed rows of homes reduced to smouldering rubble as thick columns of smoke billowed across the skyline.

According to Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency, the blaze has scorched an estimated 48,900 square metres, an area roughly equivalent to seven football pitches. The flames also leapt onto surrounding forested slopes and even reached an uninhabited island more than a kilometre offshore, highlighting the intensity of the inferno.

Authorities confirmed that 175 residents were forced to evacuate to emergency shelters as firefighters battled the blaze late into the night. Military and firefighting helicopters were deployed to help contain the flames, marking one of the most significant emergency responses to an urban fire in recent Japanese history.

Officials said the fire is now largely under control, but investigations are ongoing into the cause of the incident, which has shaken a community located about 770 kilometres southwest of Tokyo.