Fire near World Heritage site in central Japan causes scare

GIFU. KAZINFORM A fire gutted two thatched-roof huts near a World Heritage site in central Japan on Monday, causing a scare for locals and tourists less than a week after a blaze destroyed a historical castle in Okinawa.

After the fire was reported, the village of Shirakawa asked residents to make use of its 59 fire monitors to spray water on thatched roofs in the area so as to prevent the blaze from spreading to traditional «gassho style» farmhouses. The precious historical houses were not damaged and no one was injured by the fire, Kyodo News reports.

A female cashier in a restaurant near the fire site said, «When I went outside, I saw the huts in flames (and) was very scared as it was just days after the fire at Shuri Castle (in Okinawa).»