No.64 Establishment of the Fire Branch Office

Inagi Newsletter March 15, 2017 Edition

The fire branch office completed in the Kamihirao area has been in provisional operation since February 1, 2017, and will officially start full operation on April 1, 2017.
The city has traditionally faced difficult challenges regarding fire station facilities. One issue is that the Hirao and Sakahama areas in the southwestern part of the city are far from the fire station, resulting in longer response times for emergency vehicles. Another issue is that, due to the city's expansion and the increase in population and number of buildings, the number of fire personnel has been gradually increased, but the space for offices and rest areas has been nearing its limits.
The development of branch offices and other facilities for the fire department was also included in the Third Long-Term Comprehensive Plan of Inagi City (from fiscal year 2001 to 2010), but it was postponed due to the lack of land acquisition and financial resources.
Since taking office as mayor in 2011, I have been working on this issue, but I was unable to reach a resolution during my first term.
Recently, we also considered a partial expansion of the fire station, but due to amendments and stricter enforcement of the Building Standards Act, it was determined that the current government building is non-compliant, making expansion difficult.
In this context, in August 2013, we received a recommendation from the Inagi City Fire Commission regarding the early construction of a fire substation, indicating that the Kamihirao area is suitable as a candidate site.
In my second term election pledge, I have listed the construction of a Branch Office as one of the top priorities. We have engaged in negotiations to secure land within the Kamihirao Land Readjustment Project area through methods such as land exchange involving the Inagi City Land Development Corporation and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. With the cooperation of the Kamihirao Land Readjustment Association, we were able to secure a site of 1,380 square meters.

By the way, there are statistics indicating that the average time for emergency vehicles to arrive in the city is about 6 minutes from the call to 119 until arrival at the scene, but in the Hirao area, it was over 10 minutes. With the recent acquisition of land in Kamihirao, we were able to draw two circles with a radius of 6 minutes from the main fire station and the Branch Office, which now covers almost all areas of the city.
The overview of the Branch Office facility is a three-story building made of steel-reinforced concrete, with a building area of approximately 430 square meters and a total floor area of about 1,107 square meters. To ensure independent operation even in the event of a large-scale disaster when external power is lost, it is equipped with a self-generating power system capable of continuous operation for 72 hours with a 950-liter tank, a private refueling facility with 10,000 liters of gasoline and 5,000 liters of diesel, and 10-kilowatt solar power panels.
In addition, the city has not had a permanent fire training facility until now, but we have also established a training building made of reinforced concrete, three stories high, with a building area of approximately 25 square meters and a total floor area of approximately 75 square meters. We expect it to be utilized by fire personnel and volunteer firefighters.
In addition, we have also established a disaster prevention classroom space of approximately 69 square meters for citizens to use.
We are planning a completion ceremony and facility tour at the Branch Office, so we look forward to the attendance of many people (see Inagi Newsletter March 15 issue, page 1).
With the completion of the Branch Office, we will continue to strive even more to prepare for large-scale disasters in the future.