Special Rescue Team - History

History

On November 9, 1974, the Yuyo Maru No.10 (第十雄洋丸?), a Japanese LPG tanker, collided with the Pacific Alice, a Liberian freighter, in Tokyo Bay. 3 hours after the collision, a major explosion and fire occurred on the tanker, which was a unique design carrying both naphtha and LPG. The naphtha fire lasted for a week before the Japan Self-Defense Forces sank the stricken vessel. The accident resulted in 33 deaths (28 on board Pacific Alice, 5 on board Yuyo Maru No.10) and 8 injuries.

The Special Rescue Team (SRT) was established in October 1975, with an initial strength of 5 members, in response to this accident. The team was initially trained by the Tokyo Fire Department's Special Rescue Team.

In April 1986, the SRT was shifted to its current location at the Haneda Special Rescue Station.

Read more about this topic:  Special Rescue Team

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    The history of progress is written in the blood of men and women who have dared to espouse an unpopular cause, as, for instance, the black man’s right to his body, or woman’s right to her soul.
    Emma Goldman (1869–1940)

    Free from public debt, at peace with all the world, and with no complicated interests to consult in our intercourse with foreign powers, the present may be hailed as the epoch in our history the most favorable for the settlement of those principles in our domestic policy which shall be best calculated to give stability to our Republic and secure the blessings of freedom to our citizens.
    Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)

    It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.
    Henry James (1843–1916)