When calling 119 for help from a cellphone, it's handy to know where the fire is.

But in this land of confusing street signs and ubiquitous cellphones, many callers to the nation's fire departments have found it hard to tell the dispatchers the exact address of an emergency.

Now, the Japan Soft Drink Association and other groups of vending machine operators are coming to the rescue.

This month, operators began pasting address stickers on vending machines, following a request from the national association of fire chiefs.

According to Osaka Municipal Fire Department, calls from cellphones accounted for 24 percent of the 490,000 emergency calls it received last year.

When a call from a land-line telephone comes in, fire departments use a system that automatically traces the location of the call and displays the address and a map to the dispatcher.

But the system cannot trace cellphone calls, obviously. So dispatchers must take time to question the caller or contact the cellphone service provider for help.

Even worse, the utility poles that usually carry municipal address signs have been disappearing from roadways as more cables are being buried underground.

But there is seldom a lack of vending machines.

The Fukuoka Fire Prevention Bureau in Fukuoka originated the idea of adding address stickers to vending machines in the city. The response from residents was positive.

The sticker project began this month in Osaka. The 14-by-5-centimeter stickers are being placed on machines by soft drink refillers in regular visits.

Starting with 43,000 machines in the city, the plan will be extended to all 1.5 million outdoor machines next year, the fire chiefs hope.(IHT/Asahi: October 18,2004) (10/18)