A screenshot of a video by the Kyoto City Fire Department explaining how to evacuate in the event of a fire is seen in this image taken from its website.

       OSAKA -- A horrifying arson incident in a clinic at a multi-tenant building in Osaka's Kita Ward caused numerous deaths in a very short space of time. The Mainichi Shimbun spoke to experts to find out what one should do if they encounter a fire at their workplace or inside a building they are visiting.

       Takao Sakaguchi, 74, is director of the Tokyo-based public interest incorporated foundation Shimin Bosai Kenkyusho (SBK) and former chief of the Tokyo Fire Department's Azabu Fire Station. He says the basic things people should observe in the event of a fire are to stay low, so as to avoid breathing in smoke, and to evacuate the area while covering their mouth with a handkerchief or other item.

       If a room fills up with smoke, an effective response is to escape to a room completely enclosed up to the ceiling, from which people should wait for fire department officers to come to their rescue. But heat and smoke travel through small gaps in ceilings and doors, meaning that it's necessary to seal gaps using tape or another product. Sakaguchi said, "It's important to create ahead of time one room in a building which is completely sealed, and go in there."

       In the Osaka incident, the areas around the exit and entry point that would allow evacuation outside appeared to have burned fiercely. Many patients and others had no way of escaping, and they appear to have ingested the smoke that filled the rooms. Reportedly many people who see a fire immediately run in the opposite direction, so it's safest to have stairs at two separate points that serve as entrances or exits, and it is important to confirm in advance what provisions a building has.

       In response to the July 2019 Kyoto Animation Co. arson incident that burned down the company's 1st Studio and killed 36 people, the Kyoto City Fire Department released its guidelines for evacuation to protect lives from fires, which envisages the circumstances in a large-scale fire. In drawing up the evacuation methods and points of caution, the fire department analyzed 70 people's actions during evacuation, including by interviewing survivors and reviewing cases of deceased individuals.

       A screenshot of a video by the Kyoto City Fire Department explaining how to evacuate in the event of a fire is seen in this image taken from its website.

       According to the guidelines, it is important when calling on others to evacuate that people speak loudly and issue clear instructions, such as "run away now," and, "come over here." To stop smoke spreading, it is also effective to close the door leading to the staircase of the floor where a fire has broken out.

       If there is a window, it reportedly becomes easier to take in the outside air if an individual points the top half of their body out of the window and toward the floor in an L shape on an angle.

       In the Kyoto Animation case, many survivors who jumped from a balcony were saved, but because the dangers are high, this kind of escape is reportedly only possible from the second floor. If escaping from a building in such a manner as a last resort, people should, without jumping, briefly let themselves hang from a handle or window frame before letting go, so as to reduce the distance between them and the ground, and reduce the danger.

       The Kyoto City Fire Department's guidelines can be found on their website at the following link: https://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/shobo/page/0000267003.html (in Japanese) The department has also released videos on appropriate evacuation methods.

       (Japanese original by Yumi Shibamura and Ryo Chatani, Osaka City News Department)

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