愛媛えひめ 今治いまばり 山林さんりん火災かさい 発生はっせいから1週間しゅうかん 消防しょうぼうは最終さいしゅう段階だんかいの消火しょうか活動かつどう

It will be one week on the 30th since a large-scale forest fire broke out in Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture.

No flames or white smoke were observed on the 29th, and the fire department is proceeding with the final stage of extinguishing the fire.

In the forest fire that occurred on March 23 in Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture, the burned area, including the adjacent Saijo City, was approximately 442 hectares, making it the largest forest fire in the prefecture since the Heisei era.

In residential areas away from the forest, building damage believed to be caused by flying sparks occurred one after another, affecting a total of 21 buildings, including 11 houses, including vacant houses, and 10 warehouses.

<br><br>On the 28th, the city lifted evacuation orders for some areas as the threat of fire spread was eliminated, but evacuation orders remain in place for the Nagasawa district and Midorigaoka housing complex district as safety has not been confirmed.

No flames or white smoke were observed on the 29th at the site, but a heat source with high temperatures was found on the mountainside in the afternoon.

<br><br>The fire department and others are advancing firefighting activities, such as aerial water spraying by helicopter and ground efforts where team members carry water-filled bags into the mountains.

According to the Emergency Fire Assistance Team, which is composed of fire brigades coming from outside the prefecture to provide support, the firefighting efforts are in their final stages, and Imabari City wants to determine whether the fire can be considered suppressed after the 31st.

Even small sparks can cause fires, expert experiment. In the forest fire that occurred in Imabari City, building fires believed to be caused by flying sparks occurred one after another.

In experiments conducted by experts, it was found that even small sparks can lead to fires when they come into contact with flammable materials. It is pointed out that in large-scale forest fires, caution is needed even in distant residential areas.

The forest fire that occurred in Imabari City resulted in a series of building fires, believed to be caused by flying sparks, including a warehouse about 500 meters away that was burned.

[<br>[Experiment Video] 12 seconds<br>Associate Professor Sayaka Suzuki from Tokyo University of Science, who is knowledgeable about fire mechanisms, and her team have conducted experiments on the effects of sparks. When sparks were scattered over a place covered with wood chips used in flower beds, flames rose in about a minute.,]

<br><br>And after a little over 5 minutes, the fire spread around, and the material, which was made to resemble the exterior wall of a house, deformed due to the heat.

Associate Professor Suzuki points out that in large-scale forest fires like this one, small sparks can enter gaps and ignite, leading to fires that cause damage to buildings.

Furthermore, it is said that sparks can fly up to about 1 kilometer away depending on the wind speed, and the risk of spreading fire increases when multiple sparks fly.

<br><br>Associate Professor Suzuki said, Sparks are small and difficult to find, and they easily enter gaps, so it is possible that in Imabari City, sparks have entered gaps without igniting.

In the event of a large-scale forest fire, it is necessary to check around the house and remove flammable materials, they said.