Authorities have been battling a wildfire for five days through aerial firefighting operations in Iwate, Japan.

The crown fire, which started on February 26, has destroyed 2,600 hectares (6,425 acres) of land in Akasakicho, Ofunato City.

As of Monday, local media reported that at least 84 homes had been damaged by the devastating blaze, forcing the evacuation of 4,000 residents and resulting in one fatality.

More than 2,000 troops and firefighters have been deployed across the country in a unified effort to extinguish the fire, using aerial support to spray tons of water on the forest fire, which has been spreading rapidly from one treetop to the next.

However, the situation remains critical due to the challenging terrain, dry weather conditions, and strong gusts of wind.

Professor Yoshiya Touge from Kyoto University said: 'The weather is dry, accompanied by strong winds in the region, and the terrain is steep. These factors have caused this wildfire to be more widespread than usual and contributed to its rapid spread.'

Authorities noted that Ofunato recorded just 2.5mm of rainfall in February—breaking the previous record low of 4.4mm set in 1967 and falling well below the usual monthly average of 41mm—making firefighting efforts even more difficult.

However, the meteorological agency predicted that snow would begin falling early on Wednesday before turning into rain around noon.

Japanese baseball prodigy Roki Sasaki of the Los Angeles Dodgers has reportedly donated 10 million yen (£52,810) and 500 sets of bedding to support those affected.

The Ofunato wildfire is the largest in decades, surpassing the 1975 blaze in Kushiro, Hokkaido, which burned 2,700 hectares.