Modelling of Fire Escalation and Escape Routes as Exemplified by a Higher Educational Institution

Abstract

Resulting from the growth of hazardous and emergency situation, formation of safe and healthy educational environment and safety culture has become one of the high-priority problems of general and professional education. The present article deals with the modelling for fire escalation and escape routes. For fire spread modelling, there has been used Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of fire escalation. In the present article, the example of modelling of fire escalation and escape routes in a five-storied building of a school is presented. Six possible scenarios of fire escalation are exemplified. The computations have shown that safe people's evacuation is ensured under the assumed design solutions. The hazardous factors do not threaten human life at the existing space-planning solutions and structural concepts. It was shown that non-compliance with fire-safety engineering and the lack of evacuation training sessions for students and staff could lead to loss of life due to carbon monoxide poisoning and congestion. Thus, a premium must be placed on the building evacuation training.