Japanese firefighters in Menlo Park, California for search & rescue training are trying to get home.
In Menlo Park, California, a dozen Japanese firefighters have been learning and practicing search and rescue skills for the past week. Now they are desperately trying to return home and use what they have learned, but getting a flight out hasn’t been easy.
Excerpts from an article by Diana Samuels, Palo Alto Daily News:
“I’ve never seen such big damage in Japan,” said Maiku Muramatsu of the Shizuoka City Fire Bureau. “We want to go home as soon as we can.”
One day after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake and resulting tsunami devastated the northeastern part of Japan, the group in Menlo Park practiced techniques for shoring up collapsing buildings. Appearing relaxed and focused, the firefighters hammered together wooden structures and wedged them between the roof and floor of a small shed.
The Japanese firefighters came to the Bay Area for a weeklong training program with the Menlo Park Fire Protection District and were originally set to leave Saturday, Chief Harold Schapelhouman said.
The fire department was working Friday with the Japanese consulate to find flights for the firefighters, Division Chief Frank Fraone said. As of about 5:30 p.m., Schapelhouman said it appeared most of them would have seats on commercial airliners early Saturday afternoon.
One of the firefighters has made contact with his family, but the other has not been able to reach anyone.
“He’s devastated,” Schapelhouman said. “It’s a stressful time for these guys. They want to be home with their families, working in their communities, serving their countrymen.”
The firefighters are in touch with the Japanese consulate and will continue training this afternoon as officials help them try to find a way out of the U.S.Teams from around the world come to Menlo Park’s training facility to learn rescue operations from its staff, which has responded to disasters ranging from floods to earthquakes to terrorist attacks, Schapelhouman said.
