A massive fire has reportedly swept through more than 170 buildings in Oita City, a coastal city in southern Japan on Wednesday, killing one person and marking the country’s largest urban blaze in nearly 50 years.

According to reports, military and firefighting helicopters were quickly deployed to the scene to bring the raging fire under control.

Images circulating online showed entire rows of homes reduced to ashes, with thick smoke billowing over the Saganoseki area, a hilly community above a well-known fishing harbour famous for its premium Seki-brand mackerel.

Strong winds reportedly worsened the situation, carrying the flames to nearby forested hills and even to an uninhabited island over one kilometre away.

Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said the blaze began Tuesday night and has so far destroyed about 48,900 square metres, roughly the size of seven football fields. Around 175 people were forced to flee their homes.

Local media, citing police sources, confirmed one death, while a woman in her 50s was hospitalised with mild burns. The fire also caused electricity outages in roughly 300 homes, Kyushu Electric Power reported.

Japan’s Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, expressed sympathy to affected residents in a message on X, saying: “I extend my heartfelt condolences to all residents who are evacuating in the cold,” adding that the government would work closely with local authorities to provide all necessary support.

With the number of buildings destroyed and the scale of the affected area, the incident is now considered Japan’s largest non-earthquake-related urban fire since a 1976 blaze in Sakata City.