Firefighters battle a fire in a multi-tenant building along the Dotonborigawa river in Osaka’s Chuo Ward on Aug. 18. (Video taken by Asahi Television Broadcasting Corp. and Kazushige Kobayashi)
OSAKA—Two firefighters died and four others were injured after a fire broke out on Aug. 18 along the Dotonborigawa river in Osaka’s bustling Minami district.
The blaze started around 9:50 a.m. in a multi-tenant building near the Ebisubashi bridge where the iconic Glico running man advertising sign stands.
The two firefighters from the Naniwa fire station were found on the sixth floor of the building and were confirmed dead at a hospital, according to the Osaka Municipal Fire Department.
The two men, aged 55 and 22, were apparently trapped in the building while battling the blaze.
The victims were the first firefighters killed in the line of duty since July 2023, when one died in a warehouse fire in Ishikari, Hokkaido, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
In addition, three other firefighters in their 20s and 30s and a woman in her 20s were taken to a hospital, Osaka prefectural police said. They are conscious and their conditions are not considered life-threatening.
According to the Osaka Municipal Fire Department, the fire spread to an adjacent building, and a total of about 110 square meters of damage was confirmed.
The fire was extinguished in about three hours after 51 fire trucks and one helicopter were mobilized. Osaka prefectural police and fire department officials are investigating the cause.
The fire was called in by an employee at a nearby store who contacted emergency services around 9:50 a.m., reporting that flames were visible near the first floor of a building.
The area was filled with a burning smell around 10:30 a.m. Tourists and passers-by stopped to watch firefighters with hoses spray water over the buildings.
A 19-year-old woman said she saw black smoke suddenly billow into the sky before 10 a.m. while standing in front of a nearby “kushikatsu” deep-fried skewers restaurant where she works.
“I thought it might be raining, but then I heard a popping sound and people on the street started shouting, ‘It’s a fire!’” she said. “The smoke came rushing in. I was surprised and frightened.”
A woman in her 50s and her two daughters in their 20s from Indonesia were staying in private lodging next to the building where the fire broke out.
After hearing fire truck sirens, they opened the window and saw smoke rising. The fire alarm in their building went off around 10 a.m., prompting the three to gather their belongings and evacuate.
One daughter forgot to put on her shoes and fled barefoot. The mother left her smartphone behind.
The daughter said she was in a panic and just rushed downstairs because it might have been their building on fire. She was worried whether they could stay at the same place tonight.
A woman in her 60s who was working in a nearby building noticed the fire alarm sounding before 10 a.m. When she stepped outside, she saw smoke rising and evacuated immediately.
“I often hear false alarms, so I thought it was another malfunction,” she said. “But it turned out to be a real fire. I was shocked.”
AloJapan.com