Fire Rescue Operations Research Articles

Application and Research of Intelligent Multi-source Information Fusion Technology in Firefighting Equipment

As modern firefighting environments become increasingly complex, traditional firefighter equipment and operational methods are no longer adequate to address the high-risk challenges of fire rescue operations. Fire scenes are characterized by complex and hazardous environmental factors, with firefighters facing multiple threats such as extreme temperatures, dense smoke, and toxic gases. Therefore, ensuring the safety and efficiency of firefighters is of paramount importance. This study integrates multiple sensor technologies to enable real-time monitoring of firefighters' physiological status, posture changes, and fire scene conditions. The system incorporates ErgoLAB wireless ECG and PPG sensors, the BWT61CL posture sensor, and the MAG14mini infrared camera, which are capable of simultaneously capturing key physiological data and heat distribution in the fire scene. To ensure data accuracy and real-time performance, the study employs efficient signal preprocessing techniques, including noise reduction, baseline correction, and time synchronization. In addition, wireless transmission technology and multimodal data fusion algorithms are utilized to comprehensively analyze the firefighters' status and fire scene conditions. This approach significantly enhances the precision of firefighter safety monitoring and operational efficiency, demonstrating substantial innovation and practical value.

Thermally robust hierarchical nanofiber triboelectric yarns for efficient energy harvesting in firefighting E-textiles

Textile-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) face challenges in achieving high performance and fulfilling functional requirement for special applications. This paper presents the development of a high-performance, thermally robust hierarchical polyimide (PI) nanofiber triboelectric yarns with a charge-trapping interlayer for application in firefighting E-textiles. The hierarchical nanofiber yarns, comprising a stainless-steel core electrode, a PI/MXene interlayer and PI outer tribo-layer, exhibit enhanced triboelectric performance due to the charge-trapping capabilities of MXene, which preventing the recombination of triboelectric and induced charges. When the MXene content in the charge-trapping interlayer reached 1 wt%, the corresponding TENG achieved its optimal output performance, with an output voltage of 153 V and a current of 13.13 μA and a peak power density of 0.84 W/m2 under optimal conditions. It also demonstrates exceptional thermal stability, maintaining stable output at temperatures up to 400 °C. The integration of the TENG into E-textiles enables real-time monitoring of firefighters’ physical activities and location tracking, significantly enhancing their safety and operational efficiency in fire scenarios. Additionally, the TENG powers electroluminescent yarns, improving visibility in dense smoke and dust environments. This research opens new avenues for the application of smart wearable systems in high-temperature environments, providing effective strategies for ensuring the safety of firefighters in fire rescue operations.

Lagrangian relaxation-based approaches for cooperative location and assignment of emergency responders

Efficient fire response and the coordination of various fire vehicles are paramount for delivering optimal services and conducting effective rescue operations. This study explores the challenges of cooperative station location and vehicle assignment, focusing on the synergistic dispatch of fire vehicles from multiple stations. It highlights that the response time of the last arriving vehicle, crucial for forming a complete and effective response unit, is a critical determinant in the overall success of fire rescue operations. The primary objective of the model is to minimize the total system cost, encompassing both the capital investment in fire stations and the potential losses from fire incidents. By employing a Lagrangian relaxation technique, the model effectively simplifies the optimization challenge into more manageable sub-problems, thereby enhancing solution accuracy. The robustness and flexibility of the model were tested through simulations in a hypothetical network and a real-world scenario, using data from urban fire services. The results demonstrate the model’s scalability and adaptability to different network configurations and operational constraints, showcasing its potential to substantially enhance emergency response efficiency and decision-making in urban fire management. This research makes a significant contribution to emergency response management by providing a validated framework that improves the coordination and effectiveness of fire rescue operations, thereby reducing fire damage and enhancing public safety.

Firefighting Vehicle Dispatch and Route Planning Model Based on Priority Passage Rights

<div>Efficient fire rescue operations in urban environments are critical for saving lives and reducing property damage. By utilizing connected vehicle systems (CVS) for firefighting vehicles planning, we can reduce the response time to fires while lowering the operational costs of fire stations. This research presents an innovative nonlinear mixed-integer programming model to enhance fire rescue operations in urban settings. The model focuses on expediting the movement of firefighting vehicles within intricate traffic networks, effectively tackling the complexities associated with collaborative dispatch decisions and optimal path planning for multiple response units. This method is validated using a small-scale traffic network, providing foundational insights into parameter impacts. A case study in Sioux Falls shows its superiority over traditional “nearest dispatch” methods, optimizing both cost and response time significantly. Sensitivity analyses involving clearance speed, clearance time, minimum rescue force, and fire loss parameters contribute to the enhancement of urban fire rescue operations and the refinement of practical decision support systems.</div>

A flame-retardant, hydrophobic and thermo-responsive multi-functional fabric: Application in fire-alarm device and self-powered system

Conventional textiles present high flammability and rapid-fire propagation, posing significant fire hazards in daily life. In this study, nylon and cotton fabrics were endowed with flame retardancy and hydrophobicity, and a low-cost and eco-friendly flame-retardant and hydrophobic fabric-based triboelectric nanogenerator (FHF-TENG) was fabricated through integrated and modular design. This TENG exhibits excellent flame-retardant properties (self-extinguishment and melt-dripping resistance) and high energy harvesting efficiency (with a maximum output power of 173 mW/m2). Furthermore, the FHF-TENG was successfully employed in a fire-alarm system as a self-powered sensor, providing fire-warning signals for evacuees and fire rescue operations. This work advances the development of fire rescue field and showcases innovative application of multifunctional smart textiles in energy harvesting and self-powered sensing.

Fire-retardant braided electronic rope with a hierarchical core-shell structure for fire rescue operations

Effective rope rescue is crucial for evacuating individuals trapped in high-rise fires and for ensuring their safety in extreme fire environments. However, conventional fire rescue ropes often prioritize mechanical properties and flame retardancy, neglecting the crucial aspects of escape monitoring and position acquisition. Herein, we present a facile strategy to fabricate flame-retardant braided electronic rope (FBER) with a core-shell structure by large-scale braiding techniques. The pressure-sensing performance of the FBER was optimized by altering the braiding structure, which relies on the cross-contact between the core-braided composite yarns (CBCYs) at the sensing point. The unique structural design of FBER effectively prevents thermal transfer, ensuring pressure-sensing stability in extreme environments. Our results demonstrate that the FBER exhibits high sensitivity, rapid response, and excellent durability over 3500 cycles at 200 °C. The optimized FBER can be integrated into fire rescue detection systems for real-time escape monitoring, position acquisition, and safety detection during fire rescue operations. The scalable and multifunctional design of the FBER can significantly aid the development of fire rescue ropes.

Deep-learning assisted biomimetic self-powered wireless electronic noses system enabled by triboelectric discharge

Electronic noses, inspired by the mammalian olfactory system, have revolutionized various industries including food, environment, medicine, and rescue. They detect gases by using sensor arrays and provide real-time information. However, current electronic noses demand batteries as the power source, limiting their applications and requiring frequent maintenance. Wireless transmitter modules can also increase battery dependence and introduce high energy consumption. Moreover, gas sensors used in electronic noses lack multidimensional information identification ability. Here, we have developed a self-powered, wireless electronic nose system based on triboelectric discharge. By converting mechanical energy into high-voltage power, this system can initiate gas discharge and produce wireless signals that contain valuable gas information. With deep learning, it can recognize up to 60 different types of gas atmospheres with 93.8% accuracy, including 5 gas components with 12 different gas pressures. The system with a visualization program is designed for wireless, real-time gas monitoring toward applications in health monitoring, precise manufacturing, and high-tech fire rescue operations.

Fire-retardant hydroxyapatite/cellulosic triboelectric materials for energy harvesting and sensing at extreme conditions

Fire accidents pose a significant threat to public safety, property, and the environment. Traditional power-dependent rescue and sensing devices are susceptible to failure or even explosion in high-temperature and open-fire environments. This research has developed fire-retardant cellulosic triboelectric materials, offering a potential solution. Due to the protection of hydroxyapatite, the cellulose nanofibril (CNF)/hydroxyapatite composite film did not undergo obvious deformation or carbonization after burning for 60 s under a 500 °C alcohol lamp flame. The closely packed cross-sectional structure facilitated air filling, endowing it with certain heat insulation performance. The high surface roughness and special microstructure greatly enhanced the triboelectric performance, achieving an open circuit voltage of 102 V and a short circuit current of 6.18 μA under a working area of only 4 cm2, surpassing most cellulose-based triboelectric materials. The results in self-powered sensing of high-temperature and open flames indicate that fire-retardant cellulosic triboelectric materials have the potential for use in high-temperature environments. This study introduces a new idea for energy harvesting and sensing at extreme conditions, which has important significance for the development of wearable self-powered sensors and the smooth progress of fire rescue operations. Data availabilityData will be made available on request.

FSLens: A Visual Analytics Approach to Evaluating and Optimizing the Spatial Layout of Fire Stations.

The provision of fire services plays a vital role in ensuring the safety of residents' lives and property. The spatial layout of fire stations is closely linked to the efficiency of fire rescue operations. Traditional approaches have primarily relied on mathematical planning models to generate appropriate layouts by summarizing relevant evaluation criteria. However, this optimization process presents significant challenges due to the extensive decision space, inherent conflicts among criteria, and decision-makers' preferences. To address these challenges, we propose FSLens, an interactive visual analytics system that enables in-depth evaluation and rational optimization of fire station layout. Our approach integrates fire records and correlation features to reveal fire occurrence patterns and influencing factors using spatiotemporal sequence forecasting. We design an interactive visualization method to explore areas within the city that are potentially under-resourced for fire service based on the fire distribution and existing fire station layout. Moreover, we develop a collaborative human-computer multi-criteria decision model that generates multiple candidate solutions for optimizing firefighting resources within these areas. We simulate and compare the impact of different solutions on the original layout through well-designed visualizations, providing decision-makers with the most satisfactory solution. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach through one case study with real-world datasets. The feedback from domain experts indicates that our system helps them to better identify and improve potential gaps in the current fire station layout.

Information sharing behaviors in text-based communication during emergency response.

Emergency response teams consist of highly experienced professionals who must effectively communicate to respond to crisis situations characterized by high levels of uncertainty and complexity. Although the existing literatures on team collaboration and information processing are well established, research examining team information sharing through text-based communication technology facing emergency situations is limited. With the increasing complex nature of emergency response situations, emergency response organizations are likely to introduce new technologies to address such events. In this paper, we examine text-based information sharing behaviors related to team situation awareness in a simulated fire-rescue operation of 62 teams. We elaborate on different types of information sharing behaviors and identify a typology and linguistic features as well as differences between high- and low-performing teams in the occurrence of team situational information sharing behaviors. We conclude by discussing implications for emergency response teams and implications for future research avenues.

Predicting real-time deformation of structure in fire using machine learning with CFD and FEM

Real-time prediction of structural safety conditions is critical to firefighting teams during building fire rescue operations. This paper presents a numerical data-based machine learning (ML) framework for structural fire response prediction by integrating Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Methods (FEM). Multiple ML models are developed to predict the real-time vertical displacement of the structure based on corresponding temperature field data with a numerical case of an 8 m × 8 m × 0.6 m virtual steel roof structure under 1200 virtual fire scenarios. The models are comparatively evaluated in terms of predictive accuracy, computational efficiency, and model robustness. The results show the effectiveness of Random Forest and Gradient Boosting models in real-time displacement prediction, indicating the feasibility of the framework in providing timely and reliable predictions of structural safety conditions for firefighters. The CFD/FEM-based framework could be embedded in a structural fire safety warning system to facilitate smart firefighting in the future.

Route Planning for Fire Rescue Operations in Long-Term Care Facilities Using Ontology and Building Information Models

As our society ages, more and more elderly or disabled people live in long-term care (LTC) facilities, which are vulnerable to fires and may result in heavy casualties. Because of the low mobility of LTC residents, firefighters often need to enter the facility to save people. In addition, due to LTC facility management needs, many doors or windows on the passages for a fire rescue operation may be blocked. Thus, firefighters have to employ forcible entry tools such as disk cutters for passing through, which may lengthen the rescue time if an incorrect route or tool is utilized. As new information technologies such as ontology and building information modeling (BIM) have matured, this research aims at proposing a BIM-based ontology model to help firefighters determine better rescue routes instead of using rules of thumb. Factors such as the path length, building components and materials encountered, and forcible entry tools carried are considered in the model. Real LTC fire investigation reports are used for the comparisons between the original routes and the ones generated by the proposed model, and seven experts joined the evaluation workshop to provide further insights. The experts agreed that using the proposed approach can lead to better fire rescue route planning. The proposed BIM-based ontology model could be extended to accommodate additional needs for hospital fire scenes, in the hopes of enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of firefighters’ rescue operations in such important facilities.

Scale model experiments of fire whirls over the non-fuel zone around an L-shaped fire source

The Hifukusho-ato fire whirl (HAFW) is a catastrophic fire accident in Tokyo in 1923 and a representative fire whirl phenomenon that occurs over the non-fuel zone around an L-shaped fire source. Previous studies have mainly focused on fire whirls above fire sources, while very limited work reported the HAFW-type fire whirls, which were found to be scale-dependent (more easily to occur in a large-scale wind tunnel test facility than small-scale ones due to the strong viscous effects in the latter) and thus not precisely discussed. In this study, a scale-independent method is proposed by fitting an additional fire source in the inside bend of an L-shaped fire source to mimic the flame-overhang region observed in the large-scale tests; the HAFW-type fire whirl is then successfully reconstructed in a small-scale test model (1/10,000th of the HAFW prototype). Meanwhile, the results show that the average fire whirl occurrence position in the flow direction in a large-scale test model (1/2,000th of the HAFW prototype) does not collapse with those in a small-scale test model (1/10,000th of the HAFW prototype without additional fire sources installed), but with those in the aforesaid scale-independent test model; such collapse can be summarized by a linear fitting correlation between a normalized fire whirl occurrence position and a modified Froude number under different fire source scales and lateral wind velocities. Based on the above experimental facts, updated scaling law to reproduce HAFW-type fire whirls and similar fire whirl occurrence positions is provided. This work advances a fundamental understanding of fire whirls generated by an L-shaped fire source; thus, helping guide fire-rescue operations, and benefiting future fire whirl model development.

Joint location and assignment optimization of multi‐type fire vehicles

AbstractFire service quality relies on fast response and cooperation of various types of responders to maintain efficient operations and reliable rescue services. This paper investigates a joint location and assignment optimization (JLAO) problem, where fire vehicles from different fire stations can be dispatched jointly as a cooperative unit in a fire rescue operation. We first propose a mixed integer non‐linear program to optimize the station location and vehicle assignment decisions, aiming to minimize the total system cost including facility construction, operations cost, and fire damage losses. We proposed a Stingy‐Interchange (SI) algorithm to efficiently solve this problem to a near‐optimal solution. The JLAO model and the proposed solution method are then applied to hypothetical instances with different sizes and parameter settings to compare the performance of the SI algorithm with a commercial solver (Gurobi). An empirical case study on a major city is conducted to reveal insights on how cost measures are affected by key parameters.

CURRENT PROBLEMS OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY FORENSIC EXAMINATIONS WHILE DETERMINATION OF THE COURSE OF ACTION OF FIRE DEPARTMENTS OF THE STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE

The research on the problem was carried out when solving the issues of multidisciplinary fire investigation and research on occupational and health safety, when establishing conformity of actions of authorities personnel and fire-fighting units during fire-rescue operations with the basic requirements of regulatory documents on labor protection and fire tactical methods of hostilities, use of special equipment, fire engines and fire extinguishing means.
 The main areas and defining characteristics of a multidisciplinary forensic fire investigation and research on occupational and health safety were identified, which include: -investigation of circumstances of occurrence and dynamics of the development of fire (analysis of the cause of fire), the principles of organization and conduct of hostilities at specific sites in specific conditions, skillful and competent use of special equipment techniques and fire extinguishing agents (investigation of actions tactics of fire departments and the equipment used by them), compliance with the requirements of the Safety Rules when carrying out fire fighting, both by citizens and employees of fire-rescue units. The meaning of the concepts: “fire dynamics”, “fire extinguishing”, “prompt actions of the State Emergency Service Units”, is disclosed.
 A sufficient and necessary minimum of input information was determined to solve an investigator’s tasks which in the future will contribute to improving the quality and comprehensiveness of forensic examination, regardless of the object under study.
 The analysis of information provided by the investigator, including at the request of a forensic expert in this category of cases, which will further contribute to a full and high-quality forensic examination regardless of fire occurrence locations, has been carried out.

CFD study of fire-induced pressure variation in a mechanically-ventilated air-tight compartment

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of fire-induced pressure and ventilation flow in a mechanically-ventilated air-tight compartment, representative of a passive house, are presented. Experiments conducted by University of Mons are used to assess the results. The simulation heat release rate is prescribed based on experimental measurements. The experimental duct flow rate is about 80 m3/h. Two methods are used to meet the aforementioned value in simulations: 1) by modeling the actual fan curve and dampers, and 2) by modifying the fan curve to avoid simulations of dampers. The combination of real fan curve and dampers provides better results. The simulations reproduce well the pressure profile (maximum 433 Pa) and the duct flows. The simulated reverse inlet flow and increased outlet flow rates reach values of 157 m3/h and 165 m3/h, respectively. Besides, the fire-induced pressure is high enough to hinder evacuation and fire rescue operations due to the impossibility of opening inward-open doors. Moreover, the adjacent room pressure also reaches a high level. Reducing the gap area between rooms significantly reduces the adjacent room pressure, but leads to an increase of the fire room pressure. Temperature deviations are observed and are improved by modeling a more realistic fire source.

Restrictions on the Use of Specimens Based on Magnesium and Titanium Nanocrystalline Oxides in Incidents Involving Uncontrolled Release of Hazardous Substances

Undertaking effective and prompt action during chemical events is an important measure in preventing the spread of contamination. Studies have shown that despite very high surface activity of nanocrystalline metal oxides, their use does not reduce the fire hazard for hydrocarbon spills and alcohols more effectively than commonly used sorbents during fire rescue operations. Other limitations of specimens containing nanocrystalline oxides have also been proven, such as the maximum absorption similar to commonly used specimens, as well as high costs of conducting the acid neutralization process without increasing the level of safety of operations. Results obtained allowed the determination of proposed principles of effective and economically appropriate application of nanocrystalline metal oxides in rescue units.

DESIGN, FABRICATION AND ANALYSIS OF PERSONAL VACUUM ASSISTED CLIMBER

There are various instances where a human as to climb the walls of a high-rise building. Some of them are inspection of high pipes and wall, fire rescue operations, painting and repairs. Unlike the traditional method of using grappling hooks used for wall climbing, this device uses the principle of vacuum to scale the walls. The major motive of this project is to make the manufacturing and usage of this device simple. The suction is produced using the vacuum motor setup and a release valve mechanism is used to help the climber take successive steps. The suction force produced by suction pads is designed by considering both the external conditions and the loads of working equipment. In this research work we have performed a basic experiment on the vacuum suction force of suction pads attached to a vertical wall under various load conditions.

Optimal path planning in real time for dynamic building fire rescue operations using wireless sensors and visual guidance

Abstract The architectural environment is always changing, as high-rise buildings and complex interior spaces are constructed, causing a wide variety of unpredictable disasters and accidents. Hence, effective disaster prevention and rescue are crucial to the protection of life and property. Specifically, firefighting is essential for public safety and building safety. Rescue maps that are currently used in fire departments are two-dimensional (2D) because fire accidents have mostly occurred in low-rise buildings. Therefore, fire incident commanders have previously only had typical fire rescue maps to use for firefighter deployment. Such 2D-based firefighting strategies, tactics, and deployment are not always effective in current structures, and do not inform whether occupants are trapped during a fire. Consequently, fire rescue teams continue to consult maps on different floors when conducting fire rescue tasks, reducing their speed and efficiency. An intelligent integrated fire rescue system could provide real-time status updates, alarm reports, and evacuation guidance, improving fire rescue techniques through a combination of contemporary autosensing and communication systems. To achieve the aim, this work combines existing firefighting equipment, Bluetooth sensors, global positioning information, an optimal fire rescue path-planning algorithm, and visual technology to construct a framework of dynamic rescue/evacuation procedures for fire departments. By providing the locations of firefighters and trapped occupants, real-time updates for optimal path planning in a dynamic environment provide fire departments with accurate and useful information regarding the fire site in real time. The proposed system effectively reduces the number of casualties, supporting rescue process and emergency evacuation.

A reliable energy-balancing multi-group (REM) routing protocol for firefighter communication networks

Abstract In a fire rescue operation, a fast, reliable, and robust communication system is needed to quickly take control of the emergent situation. One of the most important issues in firefighter communication networks (FCNs) is the design of a specialized routing protocol that caters to the specific needs of the fire rescue application. This paper proposes a reliable, energy-balancing, multi-group (REM) routing protocol for an FCN. Since firefighters work in groups, a cluster-based hierarchical approach was adopted. REM is intended to achieve reliability and energy balancing in data communication by incorporating metric-based cluster head (CH) selection, CH rotation among cluster members, and a routing algorithm. Within a cluster, the node with highest metric value based on residual energy and number of connections is chosen as the CH. The CH’s responsibilities are rotated periodically among the cluster members. REM chooses nodes with a higher metric based on residual energy, number of connections, and number of hops to the base station (BS) as the next hop for forwarding data to the BS. This helps to achieve reliability, less delay, and energy balancing when compared with other routing schemes, as evident from the simulation results.