Firefighters Point Out “Inadequacies of Fire Department” in Yashio Road Cave-in
It was a landslide.” Inadequate Rescue Methods
A firefighter belonging to a different fire department from Yashio in Saitama Prefecture pointed out that the rescue method was appropriate.
The truck was buried in the sand and soil, and the surrounding area kept collapsing. This is a landslide disaster. If we were responding to a landslide disaster, trench rescue should have been the method of choice.”
Trench rescue, in this case, is a rescue technique in which the truck is surrounded by planks and other materials to prevent another collapse and to ensure the safety of the firefighters and the driver, who is the person who needs to be rescued.
The general public may think, ‘firefighters are doing their best without flinching from injuries,’ but firefighters feel differently. Rescue professionals work while ensuring the safety of the driver. It is a shame to be injured at the scene of a fire. Moreover, in this case, the crucial rescue was not performed. If trench rescue had been performed, the safety of the firefighters could have been ensured and the driver could have been rescued,” said a fire department official.
However, a reporter from a national newspaper who interviewed the Soka-Yashio Fire Department, which was engaged in the rescue operation, had the following to say.
When we asked them why they did not perform a trench rescue, they said it was a decision made at the site. When we asked if they had any trench rescue equipment or training experience, they replied that they had neither.
It is true that without equipment or training experience, it is inevitable that they could not perform a trench rescue, but the firefighter said, “I can’t criticize them for that.
To begin with, there are no mountains in the Soka-Yashio area. There are no mountains in the Soka-Yashio area, and there is no landslide hazard area at all. It is no wonder they are unprepared. If you don’t have the equipment and skills to do so, you should promptly ask for backup from another fire department.”
In other words, the reason for the aforementioned mismanagement of rescue procedures was the “inadequate assessment of the situation” in not calling for backup at an early stage.
