Flames rise from the site of a fire in Oita, southern Japan. (Kyodo News via AP)

Firefighters and army helicopters were battling a fire Wednesday that has burned through a neighborhood in southwestern Japan and forced more than 170 people to evacuate.

At least 170 homes have been damaged or burned down and a man in his 70s was unaccounted for, Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

The fire started during strong winds Tuesday evening near a fishing port in the city of Oita and spread to a forest. Oita is on the southern main island of Kyushu.

Japanese television footage by midday showed smoke still rising from swaths of land filled with burned-down and damaged houses, though orange flames were no longer visible.

One resident told Kyodo News Agency she quickly fled without m

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