The largest-ever drill of the "Emergency Fire Relief Team" was held in Shizuoka Prefecture, assuming the occurrence of a Nankai Trough megathrust earthquake.
Approximately 3,000 volunteers from all 47 prefectures gathered for the drill and confirmed how to reach the affected areas.
The training was held at 12 venues in Shizuoka Prefecture, with approximately 600 units and 3,000 participants from all 47 prefectures. "Emergency Fire Relief Team" participated.
At the main venue, Shizuoka Airport, disasters such as landslides, collapsed houses, derailed trains, and collapsed underground malls were prepared, and drills were conducted to rescue those in need.
Of these, the "Landslide/Wind and Flood Damage Mobile Support Unit", which was newly established three years ago, was active in drills assuming sediment disasters caused by earthquakes.
Rescue in the event of an earthquake may not be able to reach the rescue site due to landslides or tsunami flooding, so large amphibious vehicles were newly introduced to solve these problems.
This vehicle was moving over the collapsed earth and debris, approaching the houses buried in the earth and sand, and carrying out people who wanted help from inside.
Also, in a drill simulating a collapsed underground shopping mall, a special vehicle equipped with a huge fan was used to blow air and assist rescue operations in order to improve the situation in which it was difficult to breathe due to the dust.
The training of the emergency firefighting support team, which gathers from all 47 prefectures, is held once every five years, but this time it was the first time in seven years due to the influence of the new corona.
Masato Takada, assistant chief of the Fire and Disaster Management Agency's wide-area support office at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, said, "While we were able to confirm the cooperation of the new units, we felt that further verification was necessary regarding the movement of units rushing in from all over the country. Some units traveled by car for two days, and we would like to make further improvements while listening to the opinions of the members who used vehicles other than cars, such as ships and aircraft, for this training.”
Troops from Hokkaido head for Shizuoka from the Sea of Japan
The Nankai Trough Megathrust Earthquake is expected to cause enormous damage in a wide area from Tokai to Kyushu.
It is necessary for firefighters to secure a way to reach the disaster area.
For this reason, this time, a training was also conducted in which the "Emergency Fire Relief Team" from all over the country was actually supposed to go to the training venue in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Three days ago, on November 10, 83 members and 17 firefighting vehicles gathered at Tomakomai Higashi Port and boarded a ferry operated by a private company.
Assuming that it would be impossible to reach from the Pacific side due to tsunami damage, we chose the route through the Sea of Japan and arrived at Tsuruga Port in Fukui Prefecture on the night of the 11th.
Fire trucks got off the ferry one after another, and that day we stayed at a fire school in Fukui Prefecture.
Since it was an unfamiliar land, I carefully checked the future schedule based on the itinerary and the printout of the travel route.
The next morning, I left and arrived in Shizuoka Prefecture in the evening.
One of the challenges in past disasters when heading to a disaster area is refueling the vehicle.
According to the Emergency Fire Relief Corps Hokkaido Battalion, during the Great East Japan Earthquake, refueling of firefighting vehicles was concentrated at some gas stations, and it took a long time to refuel, causing delays in arrival and causing opposition from local residents. was.
For this reason, this time, after calculating the mileage, we planned to refuel at multiple gas stations and verified whether there would be any delays in arrival.
Mitsuhiro Sakai, commander of the Hokkaido Battalion, said, ``In an actual disaster, it is possible that the road conditions are even worse, and fuel is scarce. I want to go," he said.
In this training, in addition to the Hokkaido battalion, firefighters from various places used aircraft and ships to smoothly reach the disaster area.
The rescue plan for the Nankai Trough megathrust earthquake
What kind of rescue is planned for the Nankai Trough megathrust earthquake?
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has established a plan to dispatch "emergency firefighting support teams" from all over the country to the disaster area all at once, and has decided in advance which prefecture's unit will be sent to the disaster area.
Based on the country's damage assumptions, a dispatch plan is determined for each case when the four areas of Chubu, Kinki, Shikoku, and Kyushu are severely damaged, and one plan is selected according to the actual disaster situation. dispatch the
As of April this year, 6,606 units and 25,476 people have been registered in the "Emergency Fire Relief Team", and when an earthquake occurs, a unit that can be dispatched will be dispatched. .
However, if a huge earthquake actually hits, it may be difficult to go to the affected areas as planned due to road disruption, traffic jams, damage to ports and airports, and the fear of subsequent earthquakes.
For this reason, each fire department is considering how to reach the disaster area by various routes, such as land, sea, and air, depending on the extent of the damage.