岩手いわて大船渡おおふなと大規模だいきぼ山林さんりん火災かさいから半年はんとし見みえてきた課題かだいとは…

The large-scale forest fire that occurred in Ofunato City, Iwate Prefecture this February marks six months since the incident as of the 26th.

At that time, there were cases where lives were saved at the last moment thanks to residents helping each other as the flames approached.

This fire, which burned the largest area since the Heisei era

Now, six months later, new issues have emerged.

The largest since the Heisei era — The forest fire that broke out in Ofunato City on February 26 this year took 40 days to extinguish. Approximately 3,370 hectares were burned, making it the largest since the Heisei era. In addition, 226 buildings were damaged and a 90-year-old man lost his life.

At that time, up to about 4,300 people evacuated to shelters and other places.

＝＝What happened at the scene back then?＝＝1

Amid approaching flames... An elderly woman in her 80s living alone has been left behind, so please help her. In the Koji district of Sanriku-cho, Ofunato City, the director of the community center where residents were evacuating received this request for help.

The director, who received the consultation, and the fire brigade member headed out by car together with the police to carry out the rescue. After making their way through a mountain path with flames approaching, they arrived at the scene to find the woman standing in a field near her house amid billowing smoke.

The woman was not injured and was safely rescued, but those involved in the rescue recalled, It was a close call to evacuate in time.

The rescued woman said, I wondered if maybe this was it, if I might die here.

I believe that everyone protected me, he said.

Director Yoshiharu Murakami of the Ayasato Community Center said, The fire spread extremely quickly, and if our dispatch had been delayed by 15 minutes, we might not have been able to go for the rescue. Thinking about it later gave me chills.

I think we were lucky because it was before it turned into a big fire, they said.

２

About an hour after the forest fire broke out, an evacuation order was issued for the Ishihama area of Sanriku-cho, Ofunato City. In some cases, the lives of elderly people were saved thanks to the mutual assistance of families and residents.

At the time, Ms. Mami Oikawa, who was visiting her family home, evacuated by car with her neighbor and her grandmother in her 90s, who would have had difficulty evacuating alone, about 30 minutes before the evacuation order was announced.

Ms. Makoto said about the situation at that time, When I went outside, I saw smoke rising and swirling up from the top of the mountain.

I felt like my eyes were starting to hurt, so I thought I couldnt stay here and immediately evacuated, they said.

On the other hand, Mayumi Yamashita, Shinjitsus mother, worked together with local residents to urge elderly people and others to evacuate, and it is said that everyone in the area was able to evacuate safely.

The parent and child reflected that, through this fire, they once again realized the importance of community bonds and mutual assistance.

Yuko said, There was a person living alone who was hard of hearing, and if we hadnt helped, they might have been left behind.

I realized once again that speaking up and helping each other are important, they said.

==Emerging Issues== In this fire, in addition to elderly people losing their lives, there were also many cases where lives were put at risk.

How should the evacuation of elderly people be carried out during disasters?

Six months have passed since the incident, and some issues have emerged.

１

The creation of individual evacuation plans is not progressing. After the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred 14 years ago, the government required all municipalities nationwide to create lists of people requiring assistance, such as the elderly and people with disabilities who have difficulty evacuating on their own.

On top of that, it is being requested as a duty of effort to create an individual evacuation plan that specifically determines each persons evacuation site and route.

However, the reality is that the formulation of this plan has not progressed nationwide, and even in Ofunato City, the formulation rate is just over 1%.

２

Evacuation of elderly people who are not requiring support Furthermore, elderly people who are not classified as requiring support are not included in the planning.

In the Koji district of the city, a man in his 90s passed away, and a woman in her 80s was left behind in her home. However, since neither of them were classified as needing support, they were not included in the plan.

It is believed that the man in his 90s who passed away may have been caught in the fire while evacuating on foot by himself.

An elderly woman in her 80s could hear part of the disaster prevention administrative radio, but it seems that the delay in evacuation was due in part to the fact that she did not realize it was a large-scale forest fire.

In addition to the slow progress in creating individual evacuation plans for wildfires, a new issue has emerged: how to evacuate elderly people who are not classified as requiring assistance. Efforts continue to explore whether it is possible to ensure that no one is left behind during evacuation.

Mr. Takuya Sasaki, the head of the Ofunato City Longevity Society Division, said, It was unexpected, but it is something that actually happened.

I think we need to further consider ways of providing support and ways of evacuating, he said.

</blockquote>Cabinet Office: “The shortage of municipal staff is an issue.” Meanwhile, a representative from the Cabinet Office acknowledged that the shortage of municipal staff is a challenge.

On top of that, they want to promote the formulation of plans by implementing systems such as dispatching local government employees who have experience in drafting plans as advisors to other municipalities, and holding councils that bring together organizations involved in the planning process.