Fromthenorth,fromthesouth

The 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes

Activities of the Local Volunteer
Fire Corps
Hideaki Baba, Chief of Nishihara Village volunteer fire corps,
Kumamoto

1

Occurrence of the earthquake

At 01:25 on April 16, 2016, I suffered asevere horizontal shock after a violent
tremor as if the earth were heaving
upward. I heard the announcement “Anearthquake with a seismic intensity of 7
has occurred” over the community
wireless system. Thinking “How terrible,”
I headed to the village office almost in atrance. In total darkness without
electricity along the way, I drove my car
relying on just the headlights. However,
the roads were cracked and undulatingwith many utility poles fallen over, so I
felt it took a lot more time than usual toreach the village office. The office waslittered with shelves, desks and papers
with no room to move. So, we set up atemporary
disaster
response
headquarters by taking our desks andwhiteboards out into the parking area ofthe village office. As soon as we set it up,
we received information on a lot ofcollapsed houses and people trappedunder the wreckage. Fire station staff
and police officers also came running,and I felt as if I were in a war zone.
In Nishihara Village, five people lost theirprecious lives and a lot of people wereinjured. The damage came to 505
fully-destroyed houses/buildings, and1,281
halforfully-destroyedhouses/buildings, accounting for 45% of
the total. This made the earthquake anunprecedented disaster.

Damage in Okirihata

2

Activities of the volunteer firecorps

In our village with the “Futagawa Fault,”
a “disaster response-type disasterprevention drill” which simulates a major
earthquake, hosted by the volunteer fire
corps and the village government, is held
every two years. All areas in our village
are subject to this drill, in which local
volunteer fire corps members andvoluntary
disasterprevention
organizations take the initiative to
confirm safety and provide evacuation
guidance for local residents, as well asreporting damage and personnel to thedisaster response headquarters set up in
the village office. At the drill in August
last year, a combination of rescue
training from a collapsed house using
special equipment including a chainsaw,
and response training which simulated
an isolated settlement was provided.

Fromthenorth, from

thesouthcorps members were also victims, they
continued their activities both night andday. There were 4,349 dispatchedpersonnel in total.

3

Removal of rubble

This earthquake with “a seismic intensityof 7” exceeded our simulation, and thedamage was also severe beyond ourexpectations. In these circumstances,members of the local volunteer fire corps
conveyed information accurately andpromptly to the disaster response
headquarters to complete the safety
confirmation for all local residents before
dawn. In addition, although a lot of
persons were trapped under thewreckage of collapsed houses, membersof the volunteer fire corps saved many
lives. This could not have been done byanybody other than the volunteer firecorps
members
whocompletely
understood each member of eachindividual family, right up to where theyusually slept.
I suppose it was the fruit of the regulartraining drills and community-based
volunteer fire corps activities that meant
the damage could be minimized in sucha large earthquake.
The volunteer fire corps were involved ina diverse range of activities after theirinitial rescues such as removal of rubble,
temporary restoration of roads, andoperation of evacuation centers. Days
after the Earthquake, we received
information on prowlers, including
thieves who were sneaking into empty
houseswhoseinhabitants
hadevacuated, so we also loaded up carsand conducted night-time security
activities. Although the volunteer fire

Future challenges

There was a lot of damage to the firefacilities. Many parts of the fire cisterns
were damaged, so a shortage of water to
use in the event of a fire is a concern.
The volunteer fire corps station andgarage were also damaged, so there aremany unusable areas. Even now, a small
pump-mounted vehicle is still left
exposed to the weather. This may affectfuture volunteer fire corps activities, soearly restoration is needed. However,this requires not just the village budget
but also means more expense for theresidents. It is difficult to place anotherburden on the residents who are giving
their all to rebuild their lives. Therefore,
we are unable to make any predictions.

4Conclusion

After the Earthquake, members of thevolunteer fire corps carried out activities
with a strong will to “Protect our village
ourselves.” As the Chief, once again I
was able to feel proud of them.
The activities of Nishihara Village
volunteer fire corps appeared on
television and in the newspapers. We
got a lot of cheers and encouragementfrom other volunteer fire corps members
all over the country, saying they wereimpressed by our activities. The cheers
and encouragement from like-minded
peers all over the country offered mental
and spiritual sustenance to ourexhausted members and provide fuel forour activities. I would like to take thisopportunity to express my deepest
appreciation.

From

Our future course toward recovery andreconstruction will be far from easy, but
as the Nishihara Village volunteer fire
corps, we will forge ahead toward themworking together with the residents. We
would be grateful if you would continue
to warmly watch over us.

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