NAHA, Okinawa: A fire drill was held Monday at a park in the southernmost Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, where a fire heavily damaged Shuri Castle, a local landmark, three years ago.

The drill, which took place at Shurijo Castle Park in the prefectural capital of Naha from 5:30 a.m. (8:30 p.m. GMT Sunday), was joined by roughly 210 people including firefighters as well as eight firetrucks.

The participants confirmed the process of extinguishing a fire under the scenario that a blaze started in a warehouse storing lumber to be used in the reconstruction of the castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

In the drill, local fire authorities received a report that lumber is burning on the second floor of the warehouse, and firefighters rushed to the site and sprayed water. They also practiced guiding park visitors to safety and treating injured people.

“We have a strong duty to never cause a fire again,” Yuji Hiratsuka, head of the office that maintains the park, said. “We will prepare with a sense of alertness.”

The fire that broke out at Shuri Castle’s Seiden wooden main hall building in the early hours of Oct. 31, 2019, spread to other buildings of the castle, damaging a total of nine structures including a gate.

JIJI Press