Wednesday's fire gutted Reikado Hall, a revered Buddhist site near the top of Mount Misen in southwestern Japan that had sheltered what spiritual leaders call an unbroken flame for over 1,200 years, according to The New York Times. Authorities reported no casualties, and the Daisho-in Buddhist temple, which manages the hall, said the flame had been taken to another location before firefighters gained control of the blaze.
Daisho-in has announced plans to begin reconstruction right away and said it was grateful for the public response in the wake of the fire. "We have received many messages of sympathy," the temple said in a statement on its website, according to The Times. "Thank you for your concern."
Perched roughly 1,500 feet above sea level, the hall stands on Miyajima, a revered island that draws pilgrims from across Japan and sits near Hiroshima. Tradition holds that Kukai, the ninth-century founder of Shingon Buddhism, originally kindled the flame. Worshippers regard water heated over it in an iron kettle as a source of healing and good fortune, according to The Times.
According to Tetsuya Kotaki, a fire prevention official with the Hatsukaichi fire department, a temple employee reported the fire at 8:32 a.m., and crews needed roughly two hours to extinguish it, The Times reported. Kotaki noted that responders were forced to haul hoses up the hillside and exhausted an on-site water tank in the process.
