#Radioactive Japan: Decontamination Burned Down a House in #Fukushima City

Decon workers dispatched by Fukushima City used a blowtorch to melt snow in order to decontaminate a house. Instead of decontaminating, they managed to burn down the entire house.

Blowtorch?? Yes, decon contractors are free to use any method, including blowtorch, as there is no rule or regulation as to how they are supposed to remove snow in the decon manual.

Why they are doing this decon stuff in the snowy winter is a mystery to me.

From Yomiuri Shinbun (2/10/2013):

除染のためガスバーナーで融雪、空き家を全焼

Workers used blowtorch to melt snow in order to decontaminate, uninhabited house burned down

９日午前１０時４０分頃、福島市浜田町の空き家から出火、木造平屋約１７６平方メートルを全焼した。火は約１時間後に消し止められ、けが人はなかった。

At 10:40AM on February 9, there was a fire from an uninhabited house in Hamada-machi in Fukushima City. The fire burned down the single-story wooden house of about 176 square meters. The fire was extinguished about an hour later, and there was no injury.

同市によると、空き家の庭で行われていた同市の除染作業で、ガスバーナーを使って積もった雪を溶かしていたといい、福島署で関連を慎重に調べている。

According to the city, workers were using a blowtorch to melt the snow in the city-ordered decontamination work in the yard of the house. The Fukushima local police is carefully assessing the situation.

同署などによると、空き家は同市鳥谷野、飲食店経営大沼しづ子さん（６２）の所有。国道４号近くの住宅街にあり、約５０メートル離れた保育園では子どもたち８人を避難させるなど、周囲は一時騒然となった。一方、市では除染作業に伴う除雪については規定を設けておらず、業者に事情を聴いている。

According to the police, the house belongs to Ms. Shizuko Onuma (age 62), a restaurant owner in the city. The house is in a residential area along the Route 4. There is a kindergarten 50 meters from the house, and at one point 8 kindergarteners were evacuated. There is no regulation as to how to remove snow as part of the decontamination work. The city is asking the contractor for details.

(Totally unrelated video, other than the title of the song)

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