"The rookie over 60 years old" Motivated by the earthquake disaster, a 63 year old joins the volunteer fire department/Sagamihara

Translated from the original article at: http://news.kanaloco.jp/localnews/article/1202230008/

February 23 2012

Having been training his body, Mr. Kudō prepares for dispatch=The Southern Ward of Sagamihara City

As the number of volunteer firefighters in charge of local disaster prevention continues to decrease, the city of Sagamihara's volunteer firefighter group admitted a rookie over 60 years of age. He made the decision after his home town in the Kantō region was damaged in last year's Eastern Japan earthquake disaster. His relatives are elementary school teachers in the area, who visited the tsunami-damaged school while also seeing that the children were protected. "I felt I should also do something." His heart close to his hometown, every day he prepares for an emergency dispatch.

Kudō Kazuo (Age 63) enrolled with the volunteer firefighters in the Southern Ward of Sagamihara City. In November of last year, he was added to the Unomori, Sagamihara volunteer firefighters group near his home. According to the city's fire fighting department office, he was the oldest of the forty five who enrolled in 2011. New enrollments are usually concentrated between the ages or 30-40. Those in their 60s said to be rare.

He was born in Aomori while his wife is from Miyagi. His relatives taught at an elementary school along the coast of Watarichou, Miyagi prefecture. Immediately after the disaster occurred, he was unable to completely make contact with them. "Frankly, I already felt it was useless." His family, whose entire bodies were covered in mud, finally made their return home three days after the disaster. Although he heard all of the school’s children were safe and was made aware of the damages, at the time he was unsuccessful in his pursuit of contacting his family through correspondence with local residents.

"Firefighting personal weren't the only ones dealing with the huge disaster. I thought of ways to help make the area stronger myself." In August of last year,  he submitted an application for recruitment into the volunteer firefighters. Retired from his previous job as a hotel maintenance manager, it involved traveling to businesses throughout the entire country and gaining knowledge of equipment dealing with disasters. Every day, he runs 10 kilometers (A little over 6 miles) to train his body, making sure age is nothing to be worried about.

When an accident or natural disaster occurs, from his home he can send out dispatch requests from his cellular phone and wireless radios. During the daytime, he drives a bus bringing visitors to and from hospitals, at which time he’s unable to use his cell-phone for information "During work I feel impatient. Because of that, while at home is usually spend my pent up energy." Now, my daily regimen is up to 100 push ups and 50 sit-ups. Hisashi Matsuda (Age 43) is also one of the firefighters. He welcomed the admission of the new volunteer, old enough to be his father. "He’s developed a greater abundance of knowledge to rely on. I would like him to work with us for a long time."

Up to this point, he's been dispatched 5 times. One evening, crammed together with other members for a bi-weekly compliance meeting, a fire alarm was said to have gone off. The source was from the 9^th, highest floor of a housing building 1 kilometer (.6 miles away).

All of the members jumped into the water truck, one of them driving it. Since the operation of the building’s elevators were halted, the firefighters had to run up the stairs to the 9th floor together.

In the end, it turned out to be an incorrect report as they recognized nothing unusual. The firefighters checked out the whole area for themselves, dispersing about 30 minutes later.

 ”Thank you very much." The residents said to the firemen inspecting the building. Their faces displaying an uneasiness, they bowed their heads. "Of course we're grateful. That's all we can say. " Without thinking, their expressions relaxed.

After some contemplation, the senior fire fighter, followed by the others, headed out the auto-locking exit of the building. Passing by the area's street traffic controller, Kudō's energy remained steady.

"Most importantly, the firefighting force has to be able to quickly provide support. The experience will gradually pile up" With each step they take, they're aiming to protect the entire area.

 ◆The yearly decreasing ratio of sufficient firefighters and the subject of guaranteeing safety

With the volunteer fire fighters activities focused on searching for and assisting survivors of The Great Disaster of Eastern Japan, the aging population within Japan’s prefectures, etc. the number of volunteer firefighters continues to decrease.

On April 1, 2011, the current amount of volunteer firefighters was at 10,8356, calculating to a fixed number of 91.5% sufficiency. In comparison to 2001, the number was at 10,9679 (97.9%), a 1323 decrease of firefighters. The sufficiency ratio tends to decrease each year.

Looking at the period of 2011, on February 1st of this year, volunteer teams in the municipalities of Sagamihara looked to have a slight increase of 34 people. In an average year, the months of March and April have large amounts of people leaving, the reasoning said to be unclear. Sagami prefecture's firefighting department commented "Our department members will continually strive to protect the area."

After the earthquake disaster, the subject of guaranteeing the firefighters safety has become an issue. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency concludes that 254 volunteer firefighters from the three prefectures of Iwata, Miyagi and Fukushima have gone missing or died. The work methods and safety protection plans are now being reviewed. In November of last year, the FDMA set up an investigation agency. This summer, a summary of the latest reports will be presented.

From 2012, the firefighters will be in the midst of acquiring disaster correspondence and safety assurance knowledge. It’s said they are arranged to begin training with a disaster correspondence guide.

Original text:

“還暦過ぎのルーキー”誕生、６３歳が震災契機に消防団へ/相模原

2012年2月23日

体を鍛えて出動に備える工藤さん＝相模原市南区

地域防災を担う消防団員の減少が続く中、相模原市の消防団に還暦を過ぎたルーキーが入団した。契機となったのは、故郷の東北地方を襲った昨年の東日本大震災。小学校教諭の親類は、校舎が津波被害に見舞われながらも子どもたちを守った。「自分にもできることがあるはず」。わがまちへの思いを胸に、出動に備える日々だ。

入団したのは、同市南区の工藤和男さん（63）。昨年11月、自宅近くの鵜野森消防団に加わった。市消防局によると、２０１１年度入団者45人の中で最高齢。新入団者は30～40代が中心で、60代は珍しいという。

青森で生まれ、妻は宮城の出身。宮城県沿岸の亘理町で小学校の教諭をしている親類は、震災の発生直後から一時、全く連絡が取れなかった。「正直、もう駄目かと思った」。全身、泥だらけで家族の元に戻ってきたのは発生から３日後。児童の安全確保や被災した周辺住民への対応に追われ家族への連絡もできなかったが、児童は全員無事だったという。

「大災害は消防職員だけでは対応できない。ただ頼るのではなく、地域の力になりたいと思った」。昨年８月に団員募集に応募。退職前はホテルの維持管理を行う会社に勤めて全国を飛び回り、防災機器の知識はあった。毎日10キロを走って体を鍛えていたこともあり、年齢は不安にならなかった。

災害や事故の際は、自宅の無線機と携帯電話に出動要請の連絡が入る。昼間は病院の送迎バスの運転手で、連絡が入っても携帯の確認はできない。「仕事中はもどかしい。その分、自宅では常に気を配っている」。今は腕立て伏せ１００回、腹筋50回が日課。団をまとめる松田寿さん（42）は「知識も豊富で頼りになる。できるだけ長く活躍してほしい」と親ほど年齢が離れた新入団員に期待を寄せる。

これまでの出動は５回ほど。１日夜には、月２回の定例会でほかの団員と詰め所にいたところに連絡が入った。約１キロ先の９階建てマンション最上階で、火災警報機が鳴っているという。

団のポンプ車には全員が乗りきれず、一人走って駆け付けた。エレベーターは停止していたため、消防隊員とともに９階まで階段を一気に駆け上がった。

結局、誤報だったが同じ階で異常がないかを確認。隊員の活動を見届け、30分ほどで解散となった。

「ありがとうございました」。不安そうな表情で見守っていたマンションの住民から、頭を下げられた。「ひと言もらえると、やっぱりうれしいね」。思わず、頬を緩めた。

反省もある。先輩団員は後から来る隊員のため、マンション入り口のオートロックを開け、周囲の交通整理を行っていた。工藤さんは、そこまで気が回らなかった。

「まずは消防隊員をしっかりサポートできるよう、経験を積んでいきたい」。一歩ずつ、地域を守る存在を目指していく。

◆充足率年々減少、安全確保も課題

東日本大震災で生存者の救助や捜索に活躍した消防団だが、高齢化などで県内の団員数は減少が続いている。

２０１１年４月１日現在の団員数は１万８３５６人で、定数に対する充足率は91．５％。01年の１万９６７９人（97．９％）に比べ、１３２３人減った。充足率は年々減少傾向にある。

 11年度でみると、ことし２月１日時点で相模原市消防団で34人増えるなど微増した市町村も見られるが、例年３月から４月にかけての退団が多く、見通しは不透明という。県消防課は「引き続き団員確保に努めたい」としている。

震災では団員の安全確保も課題となった。岩手・宮城・福島の３県の消防団員の死者・行方不明者は消防庁のまとめで２５４人。活動のあり方や安全確保策を見直そうと、消防庁は昨年11月に検討会を立ち上げ、今夏に最終報告をまとめる。

12年度からは、団員の中で災害対応や安全確保の知識を持つ「災害対応指導者」の養成を始める予定という。