scholarly journals Building Fire Evacuation: An IoT-Aided Perspective in the 5G Era

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 643
Author(s):  
Hongqiang Fang ◽  
Siuming Lo ◽  
Jacqueline T. Y. Lo
Keyword(s):  
Fire Safety ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Tall Buildings ◽  
Building Evacuation ◽  
Smart Building ◽  
Building Fire ◽  
Fire Environment ◽  
Fire Evacuation ◽  
Safety Studies ◽  
Fire Ground

Complex and tall buildings have been constructed in many cities recently. Fire safety should be a major concern of building designers, engineers, and governments. Previous fire experience has made us understand the importance of acquiring fire-ground information to facilitate firefighting operations, evacuation processes, rescues, etc. Recently, the rapid advancement in Information Technology, Data Analytics, and other detection and monitoring systems has provided the basis for fire safety researchers to re-think fire safety strategies in the built environment. Amongst all fire safety studies, evacuation in tall buildings, including elevator evacuations, has attracted much attention. IoT-aided building fire evacuation is a new concept of the building evacuation mode, which improves the building evacuation process by making decisions of escape based on the real-time fire-ground information, such as the fire environment and occupant situations. Focusing on IoT applications in building fire evacuation, this paper explores the advantages and insufficiencies of current smart building fire evacuation systems. A conceptual design of an IoT-aided building fire evacuation control system is described. The system is introduced in the sequence of information needs, information sources and data transmission, and potential services and applications. Finally, new insights into promising 5G technologies for future building fire evacuations are discussed.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the Legal Framework for Building Fire Safety Regulations in Spain

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Amaya Osácar ◽  
Juan Bautista Echeverria Trueba ◽  
Brian Meacham
Keyword(s):  
Fire Safety ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Existing Building ◽  
Building Fire ◽  
Safety Regulations ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Ideal

There is a trend in Europe towards increasing the quality and performance of regulations. At the same time, regulatory failure has been observed in the area of building fire safety regulation in England and elsewhere. As a result, an analysis of the appropriateness of fire safety regulations in Spain is warranted, with the objective being to assess whether a suitable level of fire safety is currently being delivered. Three basic elements must be considered in such analysis: the legal and regulatory framework, the level of fire risk/safety of buildings that is expected and the level which actually results, and a suitable method of analysis. The focus of this paper is creating a legal and regulatory framework, in particular with respect to fire safety in buildings. Components of an ”ideal” building regulatory framework to adequately control fire risk are presented, the existing building regulatory framework is summarized, and an analysis of the gaps between the ideal and the existing systems is presented. It is concluded that the gaps between the ideal and the existing framework are significant, and that the current fire safety regulations are not appropriate for assuring delivery of the intended level of fire risk mitigation.

Firefighter Equipment Operational Environment: Evaluation of Thermal Conditions

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Madrzykowski ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Thermal Performance ◽  
Protective Clothing ◽  
Thermal Conditions ◽  
Gas Temperature ◽  
Gas Velocity ◽  
Hot Gas ◽  
Performance Requirements ◽  
Fire Environment ◽  
Fire Ground

The goal of this study was to review the available literature to develop a quantitative description of the thermal conditions firefighters and their equipment are exposed to in a structural fire environment. The thermal exposure from the modern fire environment was characterized through the review of fire research studies and fire-ground incidents that provided insight and data to develop a range of quantification. This information was compared with existing standards for firefighting protective equipment to generate a sense of the gap between known information and the need for improved understanding. The comparison of fire conditions with the thermal performance requirements of firefighter protective gear and equipment demonstrates that a fire in a compartment can generate conditions that can fail the equipment that a firefighter wears or uses. The review pointed out the following: 1. The accepted pairing of gas temperature ranges with a corresponding range of heat fluxes does not reflect all compartment fire conditions. There are cases in which the heat flux exceeds the hazard level of the surrounding gas temperature. 2. Thermal conditions can change within seconds. Experimental conditions and incidents were identified in which firefighters would be operating in thermal conditions that were safe for operation based on the temperature and heat flux, but then due to a change in the environment the firefighters would be exposed to conditions that could exceed the protective capabilities of their PPE. 3. Gas velocity is not explicitly considered within the thermal performance requirements. Clothing and equipment tested with a hot air circulating (convection) oven are exposed to gas velocities that measure approximately 1.5 m/s (3 mph). In contrast, the convected hot gas flows within a structure fire could range from 2.3 m/s (5 mph) to 7.0 m/s (15 mph). In cases where the firefighter or equipment would be located in the exhaust portion of a flow path, while operating above the level of the fire, the hot gas velocity could be even higher. This increased hot gas velocity would serve to increase the convective heat transfer rate to the equipment and the firefighter, thereby reducing the safe operating time within the structure. 4. Based on the limited data available, it appears currently available protective clothing enables firefighters to routinely operate in conditions above and beyond the "routine" conditions measured in the fire-ground exposure studies conducted during the 1970s. The fire service and fire standards communities could benefit from an improved understanding of: • real world fire-ground conditions, including temperatures, heat flux, pressure, and chemical exposures; • the impact of convection on the thermal resistance capabilities of firefighting PPE and equipment; and • the benefits of balancing the thermal exposures (thermal performance requirements) across different components of firefighter protective clothing and safety equipment. Because it is unlikely due to trade offs in weight, breathe-ability, usability, cost, etc., that fireproof PPE and equipment will ever be a reality, fire officers and fire chiefs need to consider the capabilities of the protection that their firefighters have when determining fire attack strategies and tactics to ensure that the PPE and equipment is kept within its design operating environment, and that the safety buffer it provides is maintained.

scholarly journals Ocena toksyczności środowiska pożarowego – problem nie do rozwiązania?

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-99
Author(s):  
Waldemar Jaskółowski
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Decomposition ◽  
Fire Safety ◽  
Combustion Products ◽  
Measurement Methods ◽  
Safety Engineering ◽  
Fire Safety Engineering ◽  
Current State ◽  
Fire Environment ◽  
Global Statistics

Global statistics indicate that toxic combustion products generated during fires are the most frequent cause of fatalities, i.e. 70–80% of all fatalities. It should be emphasises that this is one of the least studied fi elds of knowledge as regards fire safety engineering. Consequently the problem of assessing the fire environment toxicity is one of the most important, and perhaps even the most important aspect that requires analyses and evaluation from the fire safety viewpoint. The first part of the article presents the current state of issues mentioned above. The author discussed measurement methods of toxic products that are being generated during thermal decomposition and combustion. The second part presents a review of available solutions in this respect, which have been outlined in selected available documents, such as for example standards and publications. The contents of this paper make it clear that the mentioned issues require comprehensive changes and the adoption of new regulations in this respect both in Poland and worldwide.

Research and Development of Household Fire Refuge Cabin

2013 ◽  
Vol 433-435 ◽  
pp. 2267-2276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huai Chao Yan ◽  
Lin Jie Li ◽  
Jun Ge Huang
Keyword(s):  
Research And Development ◽  
Present Situation ◽  
Design Concept ◽  
Development Status ◽  
Building Fire ◽  
High Rise ◽  
High Rise Building ◽  
Fire Evacuation ◽  
International Mine ◽  
Fire Accidents

With the high-rise building fire accidents have increased every year, the appearance of home fire evacuation cabin has a very important significance.At first,We introduced the development status of domestic and international mine refuge Chamber and two mine refuge Chamber products which was used commonly,and analysed their merit and shortcoming,where we could get the inspiration;Then we focused on the present situation of the household refuge compartment and analysis of its shortcomings and the main problems need to be solved;Finally we put forward the design concept of the household fire refuge cabin .

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