Vacant lots helped stop fire in southwest Japan from spreading: 3D images

Scattered vacant lots and fire-resistant buildings likely played a major role in preventing a massive fire in southwestern Japan last month from spreading further, expert analysis of high-resolution 3D images showed Wednesday.The 3D images were generated by Kyodo News and Tatsuya Yatagawa, an associate professor at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, from 1,781 aerial photographs taken from a helicopter on the morning of Nov. 19, the day after the fire broke out in Oita. …READ FULL ARTICLE