The autumn all-hands fire drill of the joint fire- and disaster-prevention council of all Palaceside Building tenants was held the 15th on the roof and elsewhere. It is the usual event around the national fire-pre
vention campaigns each spring and autumn (this time March 1–7); this time the Tokyo Fire Department's first VR disaster-experience vehicle in Japan made its debut =photo above. People felt images and shaking while simulating a fire.
At 2:30 p.m. an in-building announcement (Japanese and English) that "an earthquake of intensity upper 6 has occurred" started the drill. Each tenant took first steps: take cover under desks, then after the shaking check the fire source, emergency inspection, grasp the damage. Then, with a fire on the ninth floor spreading, an evacuation advisory went out and tenants used emergency stairs down to the first floor.
After that they gathered on the roof and tried menus prepared on the roof and in front of the west entrance.
This year's highlight was the VR disaster experience. A vehicle about the size of a fire engine has eight seats. Once seated you put on goggles, a "head-mounted display" =photo 1. Seat shake and air jets at the feet let you virtually enter a vivid disaster world =photos 2–4. At first smoke starts indoors and people still look around at ease (photo 2). Then a boom of shaking, faces twist a little... (photo 3). When smoke and flame intensify, some instinctively try to brush them away (photo 4). About three minutes.
The actual screen looks like the last two photos (from the maker's website). This session included that scene: oil in a pot on a kitchen stove catches fire (first), and when water is thrown on in a panic the flames leap (second). Quite real.
On the roof, participants also worked hard at hose drills with indoor hydrants, initial extinguishing with extinguishers, AED CPR under Kojimachi firefighters, and a smoke-experience house.
This drill drew 361 people from 94 tenant and building organizations. Thank you all very much.
