LES POMPIERS DE RETOUR DU JAPON

 

- Google translation:

FIREFIGHTERS BACK FROM JAPAN

Eleven firefighters from the brigade Monaco worked eighteen days on land to help the people devastated and put the country on foot

They came back. Unharmed. Eleven firefighters from Monaco, left on March 12 in Japan returned Monday after eighteen days of mission. Stress. D'angoisse. Anxiety. In a country devastated by an earthquake, a tsunami and a nuclear threat. Triple disaster scenario, but the spirit of these men in military courage, "the desire to help and do our job."

These eleven firefighters who specialize in rescue and clearing swelled the ranks of 117 rescuers of the French detachment hosted by Japan. A first in the Franco-Monegasque after an agreement signed in 2004. In the flight Paris / Tokyo, in every head images of a devastated country. 



And apprehension of what they find there. "When we arrived, we were struck by the serenity that reigned in Tokyo. There was no indication of the sweaty disaster. On our way to the airport, people applauded and accompanied us. Some have noticed that we had a patch of Monaco. They were surprised but happy, "says Captain Eric Nielsen, head of the detachment of Monaco. Then installed in the bus, "we felt the earthquake of 6 to 7 on the Richter scale for 25 seconds, it sets the scene." 



"Snow, bitter cold ..." 



March 14, the first step in the Sendai area. "Under conditions Dante: snow, freezing temperatures, a minimum of food and logistics. Less than 5 degrees in a tent at night is a horror. And a landscape of desolation, "we could not complain in front of people who have lost everything. The Monegasque team begins its clearing operation 80 kilometers Fukushima, along with rescuers from Russia, South Korea, America ... Everyone works according to its procedures and in the evening, all nationalities, rescuers share their experiences. 



Monegasques totaled Yuradu, a coastal town of 6,000 inhabitants, destroyed by the tsunami. "We worked framed by the Japanese authorities, with an interpreter. The weather was terrible.  In our operations, we found that the victims died." 



In these closed areas, the public is prohibited. But the men of the Principality in contact with the locals: "This allows our interventions, people explained to us whether or not there had been warnings and if people were able to flee." Hope. The fear sometimes "when we met a woman and her daughter in search of husband and their son, without being able to help." "A bowl of rice to thank you." 



After four days, the team leading Monaco to the North and the U.S. base in Misawa. here, firefighters were mobilized in a massive operation to rebuild the port facilities. 
"Local people appreciated this assistance, many came to help. We were a group total of 60/70 people, local rescuers and to rehabilitate the fishing industry which is vital in this region, "said Captain Niel. "At the end of a field, the village women have prepared a night bowls of rice, so they had nothing to feed their children. But we were embarrassed for them, do not accept this bowl of rice they had prepared for us to thank was an insult." 

Japanese people, the battalion of firefighters on this site retains the incredible dignity. 



Last journey of the operation in Tokyo. "It 18 hours to travel 1,000 kilometers by bus and arrive at the capital, braving storm of snow and hail. This trip was very tiring." 
In the Irabaki region, 60 kilometers from the plant in Fukushima, firefighters then lend a hand to people in exodus. "We had a truck in 70 tons of beds and blankets that were used to transform a gymnasium into a place of life and well housed people who had left everything. Fear? "We were accompanied by experts to have radiographic and personal protective devices. The situation was certainly stressful, but we have never been faced with the threat. Even if it was a long and arduous task." 

Having arrived to Paris, firefighters went through the Percy military hospital. Medical and psychological tests which continue for a month in Monaco. Nothing to report except the urgent need to find their families, so hard hit by absence. "All these pictures, everything that was said in the press has panicked our families and the stress of the people we love was difficult to manage on the ground."

Members of Japan's mission will be received Saturday by the sovereign princely palace. 



Then these brave firefighters resume, anonymous, their work in the streets of Monaco on Monday.

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