How a shop owner’s carelessness caused an inferno which destroyed 150 buildings

              Some of the houses consumed by fire                 (C)KYODO

The owner of a Niigata ramen shop on Friday effectively admitted to causing the inferno that destroyed some 150 buildings in the city of Itoigawa, Japan by leaving a gas burner unattended in the kitchen. The fire, which injured 11 people and forced hundreds to evacuate, was declared extinguished on Friday afternoon, about 30 hours after it broke out at his noodle shop. The blaze, driven by high winds, spread so quickly that the Self-Defense Forces were called in to help. According to the police, the owner of the ramen shop, believed to be the origin of the fire, left the kitchen and returned to his home after putting ingredients into a pot and setting it on the kitchen stove. He said that when he returned, he saw flames coming out from the pot.
“I feel deeply sorry for what I’ve done,” the man was quoted by the police as saying.
The magnitude of the blaze, which burned 40,000 sq. meters of the city, prompted Emperor Akihito to express his sympathies to those affected. It was the biggest fire in 20 years not caused by a natural disaster. The fire moved faster than expected after strong winds spread it to a densely built-up. The municipal government will step up efforts to provide housing to the displaced. Many are reluctant to relocate from their homes, Mayor Toru Yoneda said after visiting the shelters.