The wildfire had engulfed around 6,400 acres, the fire and disaster management agency said -- over seven times the area of New York's Central Park.

Thousands evacuated as Japan battles largest forest fire in decades More than 2,000 firefighters have been deployed to combat Japan’s largest forest fire in 30 years, which continues to burn near Ofunato in northern part of the country.

Thousands of people evacuated from parts of northern Japan as the country's largest wildfire in three decades raged unabated Sunday after killing at least one person, officials said.