The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has decided to deploy drones that can shoot videos at fire departments nationwide in order to quickly confirm the damage situation of disasters such as earthquakes and heavy rains and to rescue the victims.
We are planning to create a new system to cover 70% of the purchase cost with the allocation tax.
At disaster sites in various regions, the damage situation can be quickly confirmed even in places where there is a danger of a secondary disaster, which leads to the rescue of the victims, so the use of drones is advancing.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, only half of the approximately 700 fire departments nationwide have introduced drones, including fire departments in ordinance-designated cities such as Kyoto and Hamamatsu.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has decided to deploy drones equipped with video recording functions at all fire departments over the next four years, saying that it is necessary to be sufficiently prepared to respond to disasters such as heavy rains that are difficult to predict. I did.
So far, assuming the purchase of a drone of about 3.5 million yen per aircraft, we have decided to create a new mechanism to cover 70% of the cost purchased by the fire department with the allocation tax, and we will budget the necessary expenses next year. We are making adjustments to include it in the plan.
In addition, if only one aircraft is deployed, it may not be possible to respond by inspection, etc., so the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has decided to notify each fire department to deploy two or more aircraft.
The trigger was a debris flow disaster in Atami
One of the reasons for solidifying this policy was the debris flow disaster in Atami City, Shizuoka Prefecture, which occurred in July.
On the day when the debris flow occurred, the drone unit of the Hamamatsu City Fire Department started to support us, and the next morning, 20 hours after the disaster, we took a picture of the scene after it became bright.
The video was sent in real time to related organizations such as the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, and was used as a basis for determining the search policy.
Daijiro Tsukada, the fire commander of the Hamamatsu City Fire Department, who commanded the drone unit, said, "We understand how many people are damaged and how many houses are damaged, and we are experts on the direction of sediment flow. The search range will be narrowed down considerably by having the drone analyzed by the fire department. Until now, the method of grasping the site was limited, so I expect that the drone can be used for various purposes in the future. " I was talking.
In addition, the drone was also used in the factory fire that broke out in Ashikita Town, Kumamoto Prefecture during the heavy rain in July last year, and in the landslide that occurred in Shiiba Village, Miyazaki Prefecture during Typhoon No. 10 in September last year.
Assuming about 3.5 million yen per aircraft For the task of "securing staff who can operate"
Drones used in disasters need to be able to shoot videos and have a waterproof function.
Since these models are sold for several million yen, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications estimates that one machine will cost about 3.5 million yen on average.
In addition, if there is an infrared sensor, it can detect heat, which will lead to the discovery of people in distress in the mountains and the identification of places where burning is intense due to fires in the forest.
There is also a drone with a function that can automatically create a map of the disaster site based on the captured image for about 8 million yen per aircraft, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications will deploy it in each prefecture in the future apart from this initiative. It is a policy.
On the other hand, there are also challenges.
Drones require a certain level of skill for maneuvering, and even if they are introduced, they may not be fully utilized.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has decided to secure staff who can operate the fire department at the same time, such as conducting training by gathering staff from the fire department.
It is also pointed out that it is difficult to continue search activities for a long time because many models have only a few tens of minutes of battery.