Aerial firefighting against urban fire: Mock-up house experiments of fire suppression by helicopters

The Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995 claimed approximately 6400 lives. The majority was killed in large fires after the earthquake. Roads were cut off and collapsed buildings blocked the access of fire engines to fire fields. Water mains were broken and lack of water prevented firefighting efforts. If aerial firefighting had been effectively applied, many lives could have been saved.In an effort to prevent similar disasters, the National Research Institute of Fire and Disaster (NRIFD) in Japan conducted two large-scale experiments in order to investigate advantages and disadvantages of aerial firefighting against urban fires by helicopters in Tokyo in 1996 and 1997 and in Hokkaido in 1999.A successive experiment, which was conducted in Oita in 1999, was carried out more extensively and with the cooperation of the fire department authorities of several local governments and the Japan Ministry of Defense. Aerial firefighting was conducted against burning mock-up houses that simulated urban fires. This report provides useful data for making operation plans for fire suppression by helicopters.