Tokyo Fire Department, Japan

In April 2009, my husband and I traveled to Japan with my family for vacation. On Sunday 4/5, we visited Akihabarra, an area of Tokyo known as "Electronics City" due to the vast number of stores selling just about any kind of electronic gadget that one can think of. As we strolled around we happened across Kanda Fire Station (ok, I admit it, I had found it on a map beforehand and slyly steered my family in that direction), one of 80 fire stations that make up the Tokyo Fire Department.

We walked right through the front door, and after a short exchange with the guard where my dad (my Japanese translator!) explained that I was a firefighter in the states, Captain Nakatani, the on-duty station supervisor, came out to greet us and show us around.

This station had an ambulance, command vehicle, two A-one fire pumpers (advanced firefighting units designed to handle special hazard fires), and an aerial. The crew showed us each truck, and explained a little about their operations. The Kanda Fire Station has 23 full-time personnel, and about 150 volunteers. They respond to approximately 3000 calls per year out of this station alone.

Tokyo Fire Department as a whole has nearly 18,000 firefighters. In 2007, they responded to 5,796 fires, 3,637 of which were structure fires. There were 21,607 rescue calls, which include construction accidents, 10-50's, drownings, machinery incidents, and others. As Tokyo is such a densely populated area where earthquakes and floods are catastrophic, their fire department is well-equipped with specialized disaster training and resources. In 2007 they responded to 6,300 hazardous materials incidents and over 300 flood disasters. But of course, in a city of 12 million people, the most phenomenal number is medical calls - totalling 691,549 in 2007!