TOKYO, April 24 (Reuters) - Two forest fires continued to spread toward residential areas ‌in a northern Japanese town on ‌Friday, prompting authorities to expand evacuation orders to more ​than 3,000 people, with the blazes still uncontained, media reports said.

The blaze broke out on Wednesday afternoon in a mountainous area in ‌Iwate Prefecture, followed ⁠by another fire about two hours later roughly 10 km (6.2 miles) ⁠away near Otsuchi town.

• The Fire Department has been battling the flames from both ​the ground ​and the air, ​but the fire remains ‌uncontained, said public broadcaster NHK.

• The wildfires have scorched more than 1,176 hectares (2,905 acres) and forced evacuation orders covering 1,541 households and 3,233 people, according to NHK.

• It ‌is the second-largest wildfire in ​Japan, behind a 2025 ​Ofunato fire ​that consumed about 3,370 hectares, said ‌TBS News.

• Seven buildings ​have burned, ​including one residence; no casualties reported, according to NHK.

• One evacuation shelter was closed ​on Friday ‌morning as fire approached, NHK said.

(Reporting ​by Irene Wang and Mariko Katsumura; ​Editing by Sharon Singleton)