Japanese local governments have dispatched many firefighters to the affected area since March 11th.
These response teams are registered as “Emergency Fire Response Teams” (EFRT) at the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. They are composed of firefighting teams and rescue teams as well as command response teams, special disaster teams, air squadrons etc.
So far, approximately 7,500 teams of 28,500 firefighters (aggregation including replacements) have been dispatched to the affected area from all over Japan. As of May 27th, 70 firefighters of 20 teams, including 1 air squadron, are assisting the affected area fire departments. The expense of Emergency Fire Response Teams will be reimbursed by the national government.
For more details about EFRT, please refer to the website of Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
Hotaka Kawasaki