Fire Response Research Articles

Remarkable Resilience of Forest Structure and Biodiversity Following Fire in the Peri-Urban Bushland of Sydney, Australia

In rapidly urbanizing areas, natural vegetation becomes fragmented, making conservation planning challenging, particularly as climate change accelerates fire risk. We studied urban forest fragments in two threatened eucalypt-dominated (scribbly gum woodland, SGW, and ironbark forest, IF) communities across ~2000 ha near Sydney, Australia, to evaluate effects of fire frequency (0–4 in last 25 years) and time since fire (0.5 to >25 years) on canopy structure, habitat quality and biodiversity (e.g., species richness). Airborne lidar was used to assess canopy height and density, and ground-based surveys of 148 (400 m2) plots measured leaf area index (LAI), plant species composition and habitat metrics such as litter cover and hollow-bearing trees. LAI, canopy density, litter, and microbiotic soil crust increased with time since fire in both communities, while tree and mistletoe cover increased in IF. Unexpectedly, plant species richness increased with fire frequency, owing to increased shrub richness which offset decreased tree richness in both communities. These findings indicate biodiversity and canopy structure are generally resilient to a range of times since fire and fire frequencies across this study area. Nevertheless, reduced arboreal habitat quality and subtle shifts in community composition of resprouters and obligate seeders signal early concern for a scenario of increasing fire frequency under climate change. Ongoing assessment of fire responses is needed to ensure that biodiversity, canopy structure and ecosystem function are maintained in the remaining fragments of urban forests under future climate change which will likely drive hotter and more frequent fires.

GIS and Machine Learning for Analysing Influencing Factors of Bushfires Using 40-Year Spatio-Temporal Bushfire Data

The causes of bushfires are extremely complex, and their scale of burning and probability of occurrence are influenced by the interaction of a variety of factors such as meteorological factors, topography, human activity and vegetation type. An in-depth understanding of the combined mechanisms of factors affecting the occurrence and spread of bushfires is needed to support the development of effective fire prevention plans and fire suppression measures and aid planning for geographic, ecological maintenance and urban emergency management. This study aimed to explore how bushfires, meteorological variability and other natural factors have interacted over the past 40 years in NSW Australia and how these influencing factors synergistically drive bushfires. The CSIRO’s Spark toolkit has been used to simulate bushfire burning spread over 24 h. The study uses NSW wildfire data from 1981–2020, combined with meteorological factors (temperature, precipitation, wind speed), vegetation data (NDVI data, vegetation type) and topography (slope, soil moisture) data to analyse the relationship between bushfires and influencing factors quantitatively. Machine learning-random forest regression was then used to determine the differences in the influence of bushfire factors on the incidence and burn scale of bushfires. Finally, the data on each influence factor was imported into Spark, and the results of the random forest model were used to set different influence weights in Spark to visualise the spread of bushfires burning over 24 h in four hotspot regions of bushfire in NSW. Wind speed, air temperature and soil moisture were found to have the most significant influence on the spread of bushfires, with the combined contribution of these three factors exceeding 60%, determining the spread of bushfires and the scale of burning. Precipitation and vegetation showed a greater influence on the annual frequency of bushfires. In addition, burn simulations show that wind direction influences the main direction of fire spread, whereas the shape of the flame front is mainly due to the influence of land classification. Besides, the simulation results from Spark could predict the temporal and spatial spread of fire, which is a potential decision aid for fireproofing agencies. The results of this study can inform how fire agencies can better understand fire occurrence mechanisms and use bushfire prediction and simulation techniques to support both their operational (short-term) and strategic (long-term) fire management responses and policies.

Current requirements to designing fire protection systems for educational establishments

Introduction. It is necessary to update requirements for designing fire protection systems for these facilities in terms of the safe evacuation and rescue of children and personnel, increase the efficiency of fire emergency response units conducting rescue operations, as well as optimize space planning and structural solutions to ensure a high level of fire safety inside buildings of preschool and general education organizations.Goals and objectives. The purpose of the article is to validate the updated requirements for designing fire protection systems for buildings of preschool and general education organizations in compliance with the Federal Law of the Russian Federation dated July 22, 2008 № 123-FZ «Technical regulations governing fire safety requirements» (hereinafter – «№Law 123-FZ»).Methods. An analytical method is used to formulate and substantiate the requirements for designing fire protection systems for educational establishments within the framework of the integrated application of Law 123-FZ and with regard for current trends in architecture and structural design of similar buildings, as well as fire risk calculations.Results. The results of the work are contributed to the amended sets of effective fire safety rules, such as SP 1.13130.2020 «Fire protection systems. Evacuation routes and exits», SP 2.13130.2020 «Fire protection systems. The fire resistance of protected facilities», SP 4.13130.2013 «Fire protection systems. Restricting fire spread throughout protected facilities. Requirements for space planning and structural solutions» (Amendment 1), etc., as well as SP 251.1325800.2016 «Buildings of general education organizations. Design rules» (Amendment 3).Conclusion. The research findings were employed to substantiate the current requirements for designing fire protection systems for educational establishments to improve the safety of children in the process of evacuation and rescue, if these buildings have premises featuring various classes of functional fire hazard, fire resistance limits and fire hazard classes of building structures, building materials and engineering installations.

A Study on the Problems and Improvement by Analyzing the Disastrous Large-scale Forest Fire Response System: Focusing on Simultaneous Forest Fires along the East Coast of Gangwon-do Province

On April 4, 2019, the forest fire that spread simultaneously to five cities and counties, including Inje, Goseong, Sokcho, and Gangneung and Donghae, on the east coast of Gangwon-do, was extinguished at an early stage. It is regarded as the result of the response with full force of Korea Forest Service, National Fire Agency, Militray, and other related organizations. However, it is also true that the limitations of current forest fire response system and the operation of forest fire response personnel, facilities and equipment were revealed in the process of responding Gangwon forest fire. To find solutions to these problems, from March 3 to April 2, 2021, a survey was conducted with firefighters, forest officials and residents in Gangwon-province with experience in forest fire on a total of 29 questions about Law and Policy, Forest Fire Response System and Operation of manpower and equipment. Based on the results of the survey and literature research, an improvement plan for the Forest Fire Disaster Response System was sought. Based on our survey results, we propose the following measures to improve South Korea's forest fire response system in the future. ; the incident command system should be unified, forest authorities' forest fire prevention and management system should be further strengthened, and forest fire response system must be improved to the level of other major countries through better legislations.

Effect of protective coating on axial resistance and residual capacity of self-compacting concrete columns exposed to standard fire

Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) is a green construction material widely used in the construction industry. While normal weight concrete has notable performance under fire conditions, the open literature continues to lack works examining the structural fire performance of SCC elements. Intending to bridge this knowledge gap, the present study aims to understand the efficiency of different protective coatings on fire response and the residual capacity of SCC short columns. In this experimental investigation, SCC columns were primarily cast from Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCM) such as Fly Ash (FA) and Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) with partial replacement of fine aggregate by utilising the optimum content of Expanded Perlite Aggregate (EPA). Then, a thermal protective coating comprising of Cement Perlite Plaster (CPP) was developed using Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and the EPA. The fire performance of SCC elements was examined when protected with the newly developed coating as well as Gypsum Plaster (GP), Basalt Wrapping (BW), and Carbon Wrapping (CW) when exposed to ISO 834 standard fire curve for 60, 90, 120, and 180 min. The experimental results revealed that SCC specimens developed using GGBFS had better resistance to all exposure durations than the FA-SCC specimens. Also, it was noted that the CPP-protected SCC specimens exhibited higher residual strength capacity, followed by GP-protected SCC specimens, compared to the BW and CW-SCC specimens under axial load.

Flame-retardant AlOOH/graphene oxide composite coating with temperature-responsive resistance for efficient early-warning fire sensors

The eco-friendly and simple layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly process is used to create a graphene oxide (GO) and aluminum oxide hydroxide (AlOOH) functional coating on melamine foam (MF) by utilizing the hydrogen bonding interaction. The manufactured composite foam exhibits good hydrophobicity and structural stability in the both strong acidic and alkaline solutions. The AlOOH-GO composite coating's electrical resistance is susceptible to flame and high temperature, allowing for ultra-fast fire detection and efficient fire-warning response. When the composite foam is attacked by flame, it triggers an alarm signal within 2.5 s and a continuous alarm time access of 256 s, demonstrating exceptional early fire-warning capability. The thermal stability of this combustible foam is improved by the optimized AlOOH-GO composite coating. The AlOOH-GO composite coating endows MF with exceptional flame-retardant properties, including self-extinguishing and structural integrity after combustion. This work proposes an efficient method for considerably reducing the fire hazard of flammable materials and expanding the applications in a fire early detection and warning.

Day/night Changes in the Dorsomedial Hypothalamus Firing Responses to Ghrelin are Modulated by High-fat Diet

Dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) is a part of the feeding center involved in food intake and regulation of the metabolism. DMH neurons express many receptors for different metabolic cues which can modulate its network and influence animals’ behaviour. One of the metabolic peptides deliveredto this structure is ghrelin, the only well-known hunger signal, produced mainly in the stomach. Diet-induced obesity is a physiological model of obesity widely used in research. Here we investigated how time-of-day and high-fat diet (HFD) affect neuronal networks and the sensitivity to the metabolic information received by the DMH. Our results indicate that even a short period of HFD (2–3 weeks) consumption can cause dysregulation of the DMH neuronal network, manifested as a disruption of the day/night pattern of basal activity and altered sensitivity to incoming information. We showed for the first time a day/night pattern of sensitivity to ghrelin in the DMH, with a higher level during the behaviorally active phase of animals. This day/night rhythm of sensitivity to ghrelin was reversed in HFD group, causing a stronger effect during the non-active phase. After prolongation of the HFD consumption to 7–8 weeks we observed an increase in the responsiveness to ghrelin, than during the short-term diet.

Development and Validation of Earthquake Fire Response Simulation Protocol for Korean College Students in Health Programs.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the adequacy of the developed protocol by verifying the validity of the expert group for the earthquake and fire response simulation protocol. A protocol development team consisting of one emergency rescue professor, one counseling psychology professor, three paramedics, and one firefighter developed the study’s protocols to promote the core response and capabilities required at an earthquake fire site. We checked the content validity for the appropriateness of the contextual connection for each stage for the protocol. We also created an evaluation checklist to measure the items for each stage. The protocol developed in this study consists of earthquake response, fire response, evacuation, and fire suppression. We set the situation for each stage and composed learner activities and learning performance goals. The earthquake response stage included (1) shout “it’s an earthquake,” (2) protect yourself, (3) turn off electricity and gas, and (4) evacuate to a safe place. In the fire response stage, (1) shout “fire,” (2) press the emergency bell and call 119, (3) close the door of a dangerous place where fire can spread, and (4) evacuate to a safe place. In the evacuation stage, (1) open the emergency exit, (2) cover your nose and mouth, (3) lower your posture, and (4) evacuate quickly in one direction. Lastly, in the firefighting stage, (1) pull out the safety pin, (2) hold the nozzle and face the fire, (3) grab the handle, and (4) spray the powder evenly. The protocol contributes to the development of systematic and elaborate simulation education materials in the future. Furthermore, it provides basic data for future disaster simulation operation and protocol development through continuous training and practical exercises.

Firefighters' urinary concentrations of VOC metabolites after controlled-residential and training fire responses.

Firefighters are exposed to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during structural fire responses and training fires, several of which (e.g., benzene, acrolein, styrene) are known or probable carcinogens. Exposure studies have found that firefighters can absorb chemicals like benzene even when self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) are worn, suggesting that dermal absorption contributes to potentially harmful exposures. However, few studies have characterized VOC metabolites in urine from firefighters. We quantified VOC metabolites in firefighters' urine following live firefighting activity across two field studies. In two separate controlled field studies, spot urine was collected before and 3h after firefighters and firefighter students responded to simulated residential and training fires. Urine was also collected from instructors from the training fire study before the first and 3h after the last training scenario for each day (instructors led three training scenarios per day). Samples were analyzed for metabolites of VOCs to which firefighters may be exposed. In the residential fire study, urinary metabolites of xylenes (2MHA), toluene (BzMA), and styrene (MADA) increased significantly (at 0.05 level) from pre- to post-fire. In the training fire study, MADA concentrations increased significantly from pre- to post-fire for both firefighter students and instructors. Urinary concentrations of benzene metabolites (MUCA and PhMA) increased significantly from pre- to post-fire for instructors, while metabolites of xylenes (3MHA+4MHA) and acrolein (3HPMA) increased significantly for firefighter students. The two highest MUCA concentrations measured post-shift from instructors exceeded the BEI of 500μg/g creatinine. Some of the metabolites that were significantly elevated post-fire are known or probable human carcinogens (benzene, styrene, acrolein); thus, exposure to these compounds should be eliminated or reduced as much as possible through the hierarchy of controls. Given stringent use of SCBA, it appears that dermal exposure contributes in part to the levels measured here.

Hiding in plain sight: What can interpretable unsupervised machine learning and clustering analysis tell us about the fire behavior of reinforced concrete columns?

The role of machine learning (ML) continues to rise in the structural fire engineering area. Noting the widespread of supervised ML approaches, such methods are being heavily utilized nowadays. On the other hand, little interest has been dedicated to unsupervised ML. Unlike supervised learning, unsupervised learning algorithms are trained using data that is neither classified nor labeled, thus, allowing the algorithm, and without guidance, to identify unseen patterns and decode hidden structures of complex phenomena residing in data. In this pursuit, this study presents findings obtained from one of the earliest investigations aimed to explore the potential of unsupervised and interpretable machine learning (ML) clustering analysis to investigate the response of reinforced concrete (RC) columns under fire conditions. We used four algorithms (namely, K-Means, Hierarchical, Fuzzy C-Means, and DBSCAN) to cluster over 140 fire-exposed RC columns. Results from our clustering analysis show that the performance of such columns can be distinctly grouped into unique clusters. Our findings allow structural fire engineers to 1) identify and avoid RC columns with poor fire performance and, when possible, 2) upgrade the features/characteristics of columns of poor fire response to achieve an improved behavior. Overall, our analysis indicates that fire-exposed RC columns naturally fit into four clusters – each with unique properties and response – that are governed by the material, geometric and loading features.

Fire Intumescent, High-Temperature Resistant, Mechanically Flexible Graphene Oxide Network for Exceptional Fire Shielding and Ultra-Fast Fire Warning

HighlightsGraphene oxide-based hybrid networks were fabricated via introducing multi-amino molecule with triple roles (i.e., cross-linker, fire retardant and reducing agent).The optimized hybrid network with mechanically robust, exceptional intumescent effect and ultra-sensitive fire alarm response (~ 0.6 s) can be used as desirable smart fire alarm sensor materials.Exceptional fire shielding performances, e.g., ~ 60% reduction in peak heat release rate and limiting oxygen index of ~ 36.5%, are achieved, when coated such hybrid network onto combustible polymer foam.

Geometric characterization of dynamical structure for neural firing activities induced by inhibitory pulse.

In general, inhibitory stimuli are thought to inhibit neuronal firing, but they may actually enhance firing sometimes, such as post-inhibitory rebound spike (PIR spike) and post-inhibitory facilitation (PIF) phenomena, which play an important role in human neuronal activities. We study responses to inhibitory pulse in a classical neuron model (Quartic adaptive Integrate-and-fire model) well known to reproduce a number of biologically realistic behaviors. The three phenomena that we study are PIR, in which a neuron fires after an inhibitory pulse, and PIF, in which a subthreshold excitatory input can induce a spike if it is applied with proper timing after an inhibitory pulse, as well as period firing after inhibitory pulse. When the system features focus and saddle two equilibriums, the three phenomena will be occurred under the inhibitory pulse, while all three phenomena will not be induced when the system features node and saddle two equilibriums. Using dynamical systems theory, we explain the threshold mechanism of enhancement of neural firing response induced by inhibitory pulse and analyze the origin of these phenomena from several factors. We also describe the geometric characterization of dynamical structures of these three phenomena. This study therefore enrich the paradoxical phenomena that induced by inhibitory input and advance our understanding of its role.

Theory of parametric receiving arrays processing utilizing sum and difference frequencies

The majority of highly directive receive arrays obtains their directivity from an often fully populated (lambda/2 spacing) array in one or more dimensions. Digital beamforming allows for steering of these densely populated arrays in multiple directions; however, if there is only one primary direction of interest, a similar highly directive receiver can be generated with just a few elements. Parametric receivers, such as parametric sources, can obtain enhanced directivity via a “virtual aperture” or a region in the medium where nonlinear mixing of a high intensity pump wave and a signal wave interact. For a parametric receiver, the pump element(s) with a frequency, F, and receiver element(s) are separated by a distance, L, and the signals of interest are the sum and difference frequency (F + /− f) between the pump frequency and an incoming signal frequency, f. The directivity of these parametric receivers are comparable to the end fire response of a line array of similar length, L. This paper will review the highlights of parametric receivers as well as detail the analysis to extend this phenomenon to include the sum and difference frequencies for single element pairing and arrays of pumps and receivers.

The Implementation of Fire Emergency Response in the Central Java Oil and Gas Company

Introduction: Oil and gas business activities are one of several sectors that have a high risk of accidents, fires, explosions, and environmental pollution. This makes the company implement preparedness in the face of fire emergencies to be implemented by all workers so that the risk of fire can be minimized and the work environment is in a safe condition. The purpose of this study is to describe the fire emergency response system. Methods: This study was analyzed using a descriptive method and used a cross-sectional study design. The research location was in the Central Java Oil and Gas Company from February-April 2017. The data used were primary and secondary data with the researched variables including potential fire hazards, facilities, and fire prevention. Results: One of the potential hazards that exist is fire hazard potential. The facilities available as part of the emergency response system are an active protection system consisting of the provision of extinguishers, hydrants, fireboxes, foam chambers, water sprinkles, fire alarm systems, fire pumps, and fire cars. Meanwhile, the passive protection system consists of evacuation routes, muster points, evacuation maps, posters, and warning signs. Fire prevention consists of the formation of a fire-fighting team, training, simulation, and SOP containing technical execution. Conclusion: This oil and gas company has implemented an emergency response system especially for fires by facilitating active and passive protection facilities. The company has also established a fire suppression system as part of its fire emergency response system.Keywords: emergency response, fire, prevention, risk

Fire Size and Response Time Predictions in Underground Coal Mines Using Neural Networks

Fire Size and Response Time Predictions in Underground Coal Mines Using Neural Networks

Analysis of Disaster Medical Response: The Sejong Hospital Fire.

This paper provides a field report on a fire that broke out on January 26, 2018 at Sejong Hospital in Miryang, South Korea, engendering the establishment of a committee to investigate the hospital fire response. This field report analyzes the disaster medical response. The official records of the disaster response from each institution were examined. On-site surveys were conducted through interviews with government officials and other health care workers regarding communication during the disaster response without using a separate questionnaire. All medical records were abstracted from hospital charts. There were 192 casualties: 47 victims died, seven were seriously injured, and 121 suffered minor injuries. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) arrived three minutes after the fire started, while news of the fire reached the National Emergency Medicine Operation Center based in Seoul in 12 minutes. The first disaster medical assistance team (DMAT) was dispatched 63 minutes after the National Emergency Medicine Operation Center was notified. The disaster response was generally conducted in accordance with disaster medical support manuals; however, these response manuals need to be improved. Close cooperation among various institutions, including nearby community public health centers, hospitals, fire departments, and DMATs, is necessary. The response manuals should be revised for back-up institutions, as the relevant information is currently incomplete.

Fire Safety Risk Assessment of Workplace Facilities: A Case Study

Workplace facilities are organizational capital assets, which entail high risks of fire occurrences. The fire risks increase based on occupants’ behaviors, lack of awareness and poor workspaces safety management. Thus, fire safety risk assessment is vital to raise awareness about workplace fire-safety culture, and to train employees on effective fire response requirements and methods. The literature lacks studies focusing on managing fire safety at the workplace, and limiting occupants dispossessed behaviors. This research presents a case study, which demonstrates the utilization of risk assessment for fire safety prevention in a workplace facility. Relevant literature is synthesized for identifying causes of fire, various propagation hazards, control measures to develop a risk assessment tool based on fire codes. The codes were analyzed by describing the requirements for fire safety precautionary measures, followed by an exemplary assessment. This research aims to provide professional practice and knowledge on the fire risk assessment methodology, serving safety professionals, and facilities managers. It serves to raise awareness on the causes of fire, consequences of fire events, and mitigation strategies in workplace facilities, for the purpose of protecting users’ lives and business properties against fires.

Mega-fire in redwood tanoak forest reduces bacterial and fungal richness and selects for pyrophilous taxa that are phylogenetically conserved.

Mega-fires of unprecedented size, intensity and socio-economic impacts have surged globally due to climate change, fire suppression and development. Soil microbiomes are critical for post-fire plant regeneration and nutrient cycling, yet how mega-fires impact the soil microbiome remains unclear. We had a serendipitous opportunity to obtain pre- and post-fire soils from the same sampling locations after the 2016 Soberanes mega-fire burned with high severity throughout several of our established redwood-tanoak plots. This makes our study the first to examine microbial fire response in redwood-tanoak forests. We re-sampled soils immediately post-fire from two burned plots and one unburned plot to elucidate the effect of mega-fire on soil microbiomes. We used Illumina MiSeq sequencing of 16S and ITS1sequences to determine that bacterial and fungal richness were reduced by 38%-70% in burned plots, with richness unchanged in the unburned plot. Fire altered composition by 27% for bacteria and 24% for fungi, whereas the unburned plots experienced no change in fungal and negligible change in bacterial composition. Pyrophilous taxa that responded positively to fire were phylogenetically conserved, suggesting shared evolutionary traits. For bacteria, fire selected for increased Firmicutes and Actinobacteria. For fungi, fire selected for the Ascomycota classes Pezizomycetes and Eurotiomycetes and for a Basidiomycota class of heat-resistant Geminibasidiomycete yeasts. We build from Grime's competitor-stress tolerator-ruderal (C-S-R) framework and its recent microbial applications to show how our results might fit into a trait-based conceptual model to help predict generalizable microbial responses to fire.

Characterizing exposure to benzene, toluene, and naphthalene in firefighters wearing different types of new or laundered PPE.

The fire service has become more aware of the potential for adverse health outcomes due to occupational exposure to hazardous combustion byproducts. Because of these concerns, personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturers have developed new protection concepts like particulate-blocking hoods to reduce firefighters' exposures. Additionally, fire departments have implemented exposure reduction interventions like routine laundering of PPE after fire responses. This study utilized a fireground exposure simulator (FES) with 24 firefighters performing firefighting activities on three consecutive days wearing one of three PPE ensembles (stratified by hood design and treatment of PPE): 1) new knit hood, new turnout jacket and new turnout pants 2) new particulate-blocking hood, new turnout jacket and new turnout pants or 3) laundered particulate-blocking hood, laundered turnout jacket and laundered turnout pants. As firefighters performed the firefighting activities, personal air sampling on the outside and inside the turnout jacket was conducted to quantify exposures to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and naphthalene. Pre- and immediately post-fire exhaled breath samples were collected to characterize the absorption of VOCs. Benzene, toluene, and naphthalene were found to diffuse through and/or around the turnout jacket, as inside jacket benzene concentrations were often near levels reported outside the turnout jacket (9.7-11.7% median benzene reduction from outside the jacket to inside the jacket). The PPE ensemble did not appear to affect the level of contamination found inside the jacket for the compounds evaluated here. Benzene concentrations in exhaled breath increased significantly from pre to post-fire for all three groups (p-values < 0.05). The difference of pre-to post-fire benzene exhaled breath concentrations were positively associated with inside jacket and outside jacket benzene concentrations, even though self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) were worn during each response. This suggests the firefighters can absorb these compounds via the dermal route.

Benzaldehyde decorated octadecylamine for tailor-made molecular firefighting and efficient thermal energy management

• Benzaldehyde decorated octadecylamine for tailor-made thermal management. • Self-crosslinking of aromatic Schiff base for molecular firefighting. • Extensively reversible thermal transformation in a wide range of 30–100 °C. • Open a window for designing multifunctional phase change materials. More than 40% of the energy generated globally is consumed by residential and commercial buildings, so energy efficient materials for buildings are urgently needed at present. On-demand thermal energy storage/release using phase change materials (PCMs) can improve thermal energy utilization efficiency, however, they are facing low adaptability to temperature and easy flammability in the case of fulfilling high thermal management capacity. Herein, we report octadecylamine-based PCMs with tailor-made molecular firefighting and thermal energy management capability. These synthesized octadecylamine-based Schiff base-containing PCMs (SB-PCMs) may self-extinguish while encountering short-time fire and possess variable phase transition temperatures of 33, 42, 92, and 101 °C. Meanwhile, these SB-PCMs own high phase transition enthalpies of 161.4–183.4 J g −1 and excellent cyclic stability. When SB-PCMs as thermal energy management materials in wood plastic-based building materials, they show high adaptability to ambient temperature and excellent thermal management capability, achieving temperature regulation of 9.0 °C. Meanwhile, fire safety of the composite wood plastic materials is significantly improved. Detailed analysis confirms that the incorporated benzaldehyde with various positional substituted hydroxyl may induce noncovalent interactions (mainly hydrogen bond and π-π stacking) of SB-PCMs and further control their self-assembling processes, thus achieving multiple thermal responses of SB-PCMs; self-crosslinking charring of benzaldehyde-based Schiff base structure may retard fire spreading, therefore presenting molecular firefighting. Additional multistage thermochromic behaviors of SB-PCMs may extend their application in temperature-sensitive paint, intelligent fabric, etc. This work firstly represents a method for manipulating the multistage thermal and fire responses of PCM in the case of fulfilling high thermal energy management capacity and confirms its molecular-firefighting and energy efficient application in building materials.