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Report of Fire drill on September 20th, 2019
We carried out our annual disaster prevention drill with the support of the Tonomachi branch, as well as the Rinkai Fire Department this time. 92 members of our center participated in the drill. Blessed with beautiful autumn weather, the training went very smoothly, and it was a productive and useful training for the participants.
Specific contents of the drill are provided below.
Recently, we feel more and more anxious about continuing our daily life because of the natural disasters. However. since earthquake disasters cannot be anticipated in advance, we set up the scene assuming the occurrence of an earthquake that caused a fire. The fire was extinguished by the fire brigade along with the initial fire extinguishing response by our colleagues.
Since all of us are now used to the drill, as this was the 5th time we carried out, a more realistic response was possible. We made a scenario of “Evacuate based on the contents of the emergency broadcast while ensuring personal safety”. As a result of the training we have been consistently implementing, everyone was able to evacuate quickly and safely without any injuries in approximately 9 minutes after the earthquake occurred.
While receiving the lecture by the fire brigade, we used the occasion to expand the practical drill by carrying out a fire extinguishing drill with a small fire extinguisher, a firefighting training with indoor fire hydrant and mock training for the 119-emergency call. Moreover, we also carried out training with the indoor fire hydrant, since we seldom have a chance to use it because the fire hydrants themselves have large scale and the operation is automatic.
Everyone who participated was fascinated to operate the fire hydrant and grew in confidence while using. We had difficulty even to handle a hose because it was stretched and became much heavier than before the water flow. Indeed, everyone felt awkward at operating the tube tip during the water discharge. It was exciting enough to justify a cheer when people succeeded though there was a natural tension. More members participated in the practical and realistic drill than last year, and we have committed to continue the drill in the future, since it is self-evidently beneficial.
In closing, we received personal feedback from Dr Kazunori Kataoka, Director-General and the fire commander on “When there is a disaster, take action according to the emergency broadcast”, and “No worries if prepared” and finished the drill
