The spring comprehensive fire drill of the joint fire-prevention and disaster-management council organized by all Palaceside Building tenants was held on the afternoon of March 29 (Thursday) starting at 2:30 p.m. on the rooftop and elsewhere. Conducted twice yearly in spring and autumn, about 650 tenant and building personnel participated. With last year's Great East Japan Earthquake still fresh, everyone approached the drill with serious expressions.
The drill began on the assumption of a magnitude-6-upper earthquake at 2:30 p.m., starting with initial-response training: emergency broadcasts, in-building emergency inspections, and damage assessment. Next, a fire broke out on the sixth-floor office; initial extinguishing failed and the fire spread, triggering an all-building evacuation advisory broadcast. Everyone evacuated to ground level via stairs and emergency stairways.
Afterward on the rooftop, participants practiced initial firefighting with extinguishers and indoor hydrants, and rescue training using rescue kits—shovels, crowbars, mallets—to free people trapped under overturned office furniture or behind doors warped by shaking, while listening to staff explanations. Rescue kits are rarely seen day to day, so participants tried them with keen interest and listened closely.