nuclear-news

Fire destroys Fukushima nuclear disaster evacuee housing

Fueled by strong winds, fire engulfs temporary housing at the Yoshima industrial park in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on Oct. 6, 2016.

IWAKI, Fukushima — A fire on Oct. 6 destroyed temporary housing for residents of Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, who evacuated here due to the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant disaster, police said.

The fire broke out at around 4:25 p.m. and destroyed 19 homes in four single-story, prefabricated wooden buildings at the Yoshima industrial park in Iwaki. According to prefectural police, a 16-year-old boy was treated for smoke inhalation. The Okuma Municipal Government will supply the five households that lost their residences with housing elsewhere.

There were 72 households living in 86 of the 31-building complex’s 122 residences. Some 90 percent of Okuma residents’ original homes are within a nuclear disaster no-go zone around the Fukushima plant, and it is unknown when those living in the Yoshima industrial park might be able to return to the town.

Sho Tsukamoto, 29, an employee of a construction company who lost his residence and his possessions in the fire, said, “I even lost the picture of my dead father and other photos of my family that I brought from Okuma.”

http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20161007/p2a/00m/0na/006000c

October 7, 2016 - Posted by dunrenard | Fukushima 2016 | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing, Iwaki City, Temporary Housing