Naval Support Facility Kamiseya
Encyclopedia
is a detachment of U.S. Naval Air Facility (NAF) Atsugi, Japan
. The facility is located on the Kantō
Plain, approximately three miles (5 km) northeast of NAF Atsugi, and 7.55 miles (12.15 km) WNW of Yokohama. The base consists of 587 acre
s (2.4 km²) with 110 acres (0.4 km²) within the fence line. It has 184 buildings (including three bachelor quarters and 68 housing units) and a plant property value of $100 million. Base population consists of 300 sailors, their families and personnel who work on the facility.
The western gate is open during the day to public. It follows into a field of about 400 meters long, with a helipad
in the Northern part. The activity rules are specified on close by signs. This place is an excellent kite flying place although remote controlled devices are prohibited.
After WWII this former Japanese Imperial Navy torpedo manufacturing facility was used by the United States Navy as a radio communications intercept station until it ceased such operations in the late 1990s. On September 24, 1965 a fire broke out in one of the operational buildings, killing twelve United States military personnel. Most of the deaths occurred because the men were unable to escape through a locked exit, and were overcome by the smoke. Although the official investigation listed faulty electrical circuity as the cause of the fire, some eyewitness accounts attributed it to failure in a recently-installed incinerator, used for destruction of classified material, which had been improperly vented through the wall and subsequently caused the wall to ignite.
The main operations building, in which the fire took place, was originally built underground. The walls and ceiling were made of reinforced concrete six to eight feet thick. It was theoretically bomb-proof, by WW2 standards. Therefore, with no windows and few doors, a fire was especially dangerous. Many of the men who died had put on respirators, which were stored in a cabinet near the exit. Unfortunately, these were all ABC respirators, and they soon became clogged by the large particulates in the smoke.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The facility is located on the Kantō
Kanto region
The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō Plain....
Plain, approximately three miles (5 km) northeast of NAF Atsugi, and 7.55 miles (12.15 km) WNW of Yokohama. The base consists of 587 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s (2.4 km²) with 110 acres (0.4 km²) within the fence line. It has 184 buildings (including three bachelor quarters and 68 housing units) and a plant property value of $100 million. Base population consists of 300 sailors, their families and personnel who work on the facility.
The western gate is open during the day to public. It follows into a field of about 400 meters long, with a helipad
Helipad
Helipad is a common abbreviation for helicopter landing pad, a landing area for helicopters. While helicopters are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard surface away from obstacles where a helicopter can safely...
in the Northern part. The activity rules are specified on close by signs. This place is an excellent kite flying place although remote controlled devices are prohibited.
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After WWII this former Japanese Imperial Navy torpedo manufacturing facility was used by the United States Navy as a radio communications intercept station until it ceased such operations in the late 1990s. On September 24, 1965 a fire broke out in one of the operational buildings, killing twelve United States military personnel. Most of the deaths occurred because the men were unable to escape through a locked exit, and were overcome by the smoke. Although the official investigation listed faulty electrical circuity as the cause of the fire, some eyewitness accounts attributed it to failure in a recently-installed incinerator, used for destruction of classified material, which had been improperly vented through the wall and subsequently caused the wall to ignite.
The main operations building, in which the fire took place, was originally built underground. The walls and ceiling were made of reinforced concrete six to eight feet thick. It was theoretically bomb-proof, by WW2 standards. Therefore, with no windows and few doors, a fire was especially dangerous. Many of the men who died had put on respirators, which were stored in a cabinet near the exit. Unfortunately, these were all ABC respirators, and they soon became clogged by the large particulates in the smoke.