More than 1,000 firefighters in northern Japan battled to contain two wildfires for a fifth straight day on Sunday, as the blazes pushed closer to residential areas and forced more than 3,000 residents to evacuate.
The first fire broke out on Wednesday in a ?mountainous ?area and then a second fire nearby threatened residential districts in the town of Otsuchi ?in Iwate Prefecture.
Hilly terrain, dry weather and winds are hampering containment efforts, a fire department official told reporters.
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