CHAPTER 5:Fire prevention

Wish to protect people from present danger

What is more difficult than extinguishing a fire is preventing a fire from occurring. The Kabukicho building fire which occurred in Shinjuku ward, took as many as 44 precious lives. In order to minimize the damage caused by fire, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency is actively promoting the review of fire-prevention equipment, etc. and the reformation of fire control standards. In residential fires, the number of elderly people who fail to escape and lose their lives is increasing yearly. It is our urgent task to precisely analyze the state of damage caused by fire, to install fire-prevention equipment, and to adopt measures for fire control, which minimize damage.

001 Prevent fire. In the worst case, minimize the damage

The Kabukicho building fire in Shinjuku, which occurred in September 2001, has exposed the reality that anyone can be a victim in everyday life. As many as 44 casualties in a relatively small building resulted from the careless management of the building, such as no fire door closing and no working automatic fire alarm systems. As for the staircases, which were the only lifeline, large amounts of various inflammable materials were placed on them, which caused the fire to spread rapidly. To prepare for an emergency in buildings such as the outbreak of fire, the Fire Defense Law stipulates " Standards for fire-prevention equipment and others," encouraging smooth operation of initial fire extinguishing, alarming, evacuating, and fire fighting, which minimize damage, and " Standards for fire control" for the drawing up of a fire defense plan, execution of fire drills, management of capacity venue, and other measures in preparation for the outbreak of fire, etc. led by fire marshals. Regulations have no meaning when they are not observed even if they are defined. It was a distressing fire that left bitter feelings in all persons related to fire protecting activities.
Taking this fire of Shinjuku, Kabuki-cho building as a trigger, on-site inspections were implemented simultaneously nationwide. To cope with this serious problem, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency has promoted the development of laws for correction of violations and carried out thorough measures for correction. As a result of the revised laws, the number of violations was reduced to about 45% in June 2003, then to about 36% at the year-end on December 31. Hereafter, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency will make more plans for measures for correcting violations and implement the laws for fire prevention, placing maximum priority on human life.

002 Determined to Correct Violations and Sealing Off of Escape Routes

Fire and Disaster Management Agency will back up the duties of the concerned fire defense organizations for the correction of violations in the days ahead, aiming to reduce the violation rate It will strictly perform on-site inspections, and maintains the policy that strict law enforcement will be applied if any violation is not corrected. It takes all necessary painstaking effort for earlier correction of violations, such as extensive education of the staff of the Violation Correction Support Center and promoting the effective utilization of a violation database.

003 Promoting Preparedness Against Home Fires

It is quite natural that we smoke once in a while, heat a room using a stove and use a small kitchen range for cooking in our daily life in a house or building. The use of " fire" is indispensable for our daily life. If we cannot use " fire," we feel very inconvenienced. If we are careless in using " fire" , on the other hand, it may start a fire, which damages or harms people and buildings. The number of building fires is about 30,000 a year and 60% of the fires are house fires and 90% of deaths are due to house fires. Looking at the causes of house fires we see that the top one is cigarettes, followed by stoves and then small kitchen ranges. We can see from this data that a fire starts very near to us. The number of deaths caused by house fires exceeded 1,000 in 2003. This is the worst record in 17 years since 1986. More than half of the deaths are people who are older than 65. We need to take urgent measures to cope with the arrival of an aging society. Considering the results of " A survey on fire fighting and rescue" conducted by the Cabinet Office in 2003, which covers the effects of residential smoke alarm systems and measures taken in Europe, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency has been promoting the development of laws to strengthen measures for preventing house fires and the Fire Service Law was revised by the Diet in 2004. The Agency will promote measures to realize a safe and secure life including promoting development of low-cost and handy home fire alarm devices.