Japan has deployed 1,400 firefighters and 100 Self-Defense Force personnel to battle mountain blazes in the northern part of the country. The area consumed by the fires reached 1,373 hectares (3,393 ​acres) as of early Sunday morning, up 7% from the previous day. The fires are threatening residential districts of Otsuchi, a coastal town that lost nearly a tenth of its population in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Evacuation orders are in place for 1,541 households or 3,233 residents, a third of the town's population. The cause of the fires is unclear and under investigation. No rain is expected in the region on Sunday or Monday, but a brief shower is forecast on Tuesday.