Disaster Prevention Activities of Japanese Fire Companies

Abstract

Many lives were saved due to local disaster prevention activities such as evacuation guidance during the Great East Japan Earthquake. On the other hand, those involved in local disaster prevention activities were negatively affected in many cases. Therefore, local disaster prevention activities and safety-ensuring measures during large-scale disasters are being reviewed. This paper focuses on fire companies that are expected to develop and implement the core of local disaster prevention activities. In order to study the effectiveness of safety measures in areas that are vulnerable to natural disasters, disaster prevention activities focusing on water and wind disasters in particular were studied in Kiho Town in Mie Prefecture following the Great East Japan Earthquake. As a result, information communication measures, equipment, and manuals proved to be effective in areas that are at risk of disasters other than earthquakes. In addition, the importance of sharing manuals in organizations was also shown, because disaster measures in fire companies tend to be performed based on individual experience. Furthermore, the importance of cooperation with other organizations in the region was also demonstrated.