Doha: Japan was battling its largest wildfire in more than three decades, authorities said.

According to Qatar News Agency, flames are estimated to have spread over about 1,200 hectares in the forest of Ofunato in the northern region of Iwate since fire broke out on Wednesday, Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency reported.

“We’re still examining the size of the affected area, but it is the biggest since the 1992 wildfire in Kushiro, Hokkaido,” an agency spokesman said. That fire burned 1,030 hectares, the previous record.

Around 1,700 firefighters were being mobilised from across the country, the agency said.

Local police found the body of one person who had been burned on Thursday.

Over 1,000 nearby residents have been evacuated and more than 80 buildings had been damaged as of Friday, according to the Ofunato municipality.

The cause of the blaze remained unknown.