No.129 The rescue team of Inagi City Fire Department participated in the 50th National Fire Rescue Technology Competition

"The National Firefighting Rescue Skills Competition" held its first event in 1972 in Tokyo. Since then, it has been held in various locations across the country, and the 50th competition was once again held in Tokyo on August 26 of this year.

On the day of the event, more than 1,000 rescue team members who won the district competitions from the Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Tokai, Higashi-Kinki, Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa branches gathered at the Tachikawa Tachihi special venue.

Rescue team members are a profession that requires special physical strength and skills among firefighters. Over 1,000 elite members dressed in orange rescue uniforms gathered together, and the sight of them competing in the results of their daily training was truly impressive.

In this competition, there will be "Basic Training" in 2 events and "Cooperative Training" in 5 events for both the athletics and water sports categories. Additionally, there will be a "Technical Training" segment where participating teams will showcase their creativity and ingenuity in training scenarios and rescue methods without any specified equipment or training content. Aside from the demonstration of technical training, standard required times are set, and each team will compete for the reliability of their rescue operations and their times.

The Inagi City Fire Department has been working on the event of "crawling rescue" for some time, and recently achieved an award (effectively a victory) at the Tokyo tournament, earning the right to participate in the national tournament for the first time.

This "infant rescue" training involves one team member wearing an air respirator to search within an 8-meter smoke duct, securing the person in need of rescue with a rope, and then transporting them to a safe location together with another team member. The standard time for this training is set at 1 minute and 2 seconds.

The Inagi team has reportedly achieved times around 35 seconds at the training facilities established at the Kamihirao Fire Branch Office, raising expectations for a potential victory. On the day of the event, there may have been some nerves due to their first appearance at the national competition, as they did not achieve their best time during training; however, there were no deductions, and they were able to secure a commendable placement.

In addition, during the technical training of the land division, seven members of the Inagi Special Rescue Team demonstrated rescue techniques from heights alongside 22 members of the Tokyo Fire Department's 4th team. Their performance was on par with the Tokyo Fire Department's participating teams, showcasing a powerful content that truly embodied the spirit of "competing to save."

At the venue, I was able to meet and greet Mr. Murakami, the former Fire Chief who once lived in Inagi City, and Mr. Shimizu, the current Fire Chief, and we promised to maintain the collaboration between the Tokyo Fire Department and the Inagi City Fire Department.

I would like to express my gratitude for the grand tournament held in Tokyo this time. I was moved and reassured by the sight of many participants from fire departments across the country demonstrating the results of their daily training with vigor.

Congratulations to all the members who participated from the Inagi City Fire Department on your first appearance at the national competition and your remarkable award!

Thank you for the wonderful demonstration of technical training!

The event will be recorded and streamed on YouTube. If you are interested, please search for "National Firefighting Rescue Skills Competition."