Volunteer firefighter Ryota Haga carries a fire hose to battle a wildfire in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on Sunday. | REUTERS

OTSUCHI, IWATE PREF. –

Ryota Haga was in high school when the biggest earthquake ever recorded in Japan triggered a deadly tsunami and swept away his family home in the quiet ​town of Otsuchi in Iwate Prefecture in March 2011.

Now 31 with a wife and toddler, the ‌volunteer firefighter faces ‌another natural disaster: this time, a wildfire raging for a sixth ​day and threatening his community after burning through more than 1,600 hectares of forest as of Monday morning.

"It's been 15 years since the (Great East Japan) Earthquake, and our lives ⁠were finally beginning to settle down," Haga said at the end of another draining day battling the ⁠blaze on Sunday.

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