Firefighting Activities Research Articles

Field Experimental Investigations on the Performance of an Environmentally Friendly Soap-Based Firefighting Agent on Indonesian Peat Fire

Peat fires contribute to global warming and environmental destruction. Once ignited, the fires tend to spread deep, underground and are difficult to extinguish using solely water. Mixtures of soap-based firefighting agents and water are expected to improve suppression efficiency by enhancing the permeability of water, a cooling material. Nevertheless, peat fire suppression is rarely studied. We performed peat fire extinguishing experiments in Palangkaraya, Indonesia to evaluate the efficiency of an environmentally friendly soap-based agent; and we conducted field experiments on 1.5 m × 1.5 m as well as 7 m × 7 m of peatlands. We conducted firefighting activities by applying (1) groundwater as well as (2) a solution of groundwater and 1 vol% of a soap-based firefighting agent. Surface temperatures of peat fires were approximately 160°C and 66°C after initial firefighting activities using solely water and a 1 vol% soap-based solution, respectively. The quantity of water required to extinguish the fires was 7.2 L/m2 using solely water, and decreased to 3.6 L/m2 using the soap-based solution. The soap-based solution exhibited a higher heat removal effect on the peat soil surface and higher permeability into peat soil than solely water, and can therefore be used to quickly extinguish peat fires. 10 months after the experiment, experimental sites sprayed with the soap-based solution demonstrated recovery of vegetation to the same degree as the sites sprayed solely with water. Thus, the soap-based firefighting agent is environmentally friendly, has promising firefighting properties, and is a reasonable tool for mitigating peat fires.

Проблемы экспертной оценки организации, управления и действий участников тушения пожаров

PURPOSE. The article deals with the problems associated with the expert assessment of fire extinguishing activities. A group of people interested in conducting assessing activities at extinguishing fires has been identified. The purpose of the analysis is to consider the research comprehensive problems in the field of assessing organization, management and activities of the crews at fire extinguishment during forensic examination. The goals of the study are to assess objectively the methodological approach for solving the problems of “fire-tactical examination”, identify existing drawbacks and form the basis for the development of a methodological approach to “fire-tactical examination”. METHODS. Systemic analysis, comparison and expert analysis methods have been used during the study. FINDINGS. It has been determined that “fire-tactical examination” is part of fire-technical examination. Causal relationship assessment of fire-fighting activities and the consequences occurred is the necessary part of the expert study. The most effective method of studying the effectiveness of organizing firefighting activities is modeling. RESEARCH APPLICATION FIELD. The results can be applied in the development of organizational and scientific-methodological support for “fire-tactical examination”. Solving the identified problems will improve the methodological tools of “fire-tactical expertise”. CONCLUSIONS. To conduct an expert assessment of organization, management, and activities of the crews at fire extinguishment, qualified specialists in conducting fire and technical examinations are needed, who know the basics of the origin, development and fire extinguishment, fire extinction tactics, as well as have practical experience and knowledge for summarizing the materials obtained.

О тактических возможностях звеньев газодымозащитной службы при работе в сложных условиях

PURPOSE. Orientation of the gas and smoke protection service (GSPS) unit when working in an unbreathable environment while rescuing people and extinguishing fires is a rather difficult task. It becomes even more difficult if a fire occurs in challenging environment, for example, in subway tunnels or cable structures of energy enterprises. The length of these objects can reach several hundred meters, and, as a rule, there are only two entry points for GSPS units in them: an entrance and an exit located on opposite sides of the structure. The authors have analyzed means of GSPS unit orientation in conditions of bad visibility. With the help of mathematical calculations, the expediency of introducing the considered methods into practice is substantiated. METHODS. The article presents an analysis of the ways and methods of GSPS unit orienting. On the basis of mathematical analysis, possible circumstances of the smoke divers operation in a fire are predicted. FINDINGS. A preliminary assessment of GSPS units’ tactical capabilities operating in difficult fire conditions in the subway tunnel has been carried out. Calculations of GSPS unit operation parameters have been made in accordance with the generally accepted methodology. It has been determined that even under the most favorable conditions the GSPS unit is not able to complete the task without having clear spatial references. RESEARCH APPLICATION FIELD. The results obtained can be used in smoke divers training, as well as in the practical activities of firefighters guarding metro and energy facilities. CONCLUSIONS. The authors have proposed variants of signs and markings that allow smoke divers to determine their location in a timely manner and make competent management decisions. Introducing the proposed methods for GSPS units orienting will make it possible to perform the tasks of rescuing victims as quickly and safely as possible.

Fire Risk Analysis of Petrochemical Plant Facilities through Fire Modeling

In this study, fire case analysis and fire type and risk analysis were conducted for each process according to the ISO 17776 checklist to determine the firefighting activities and worker evacuation areas in case of a fire in a petrochemical plant. Therefore, fire modeling was performed for storage tanks with the largest fire load according to the wind speed and combustibles in order to analyze the radiant heat and smoke behavior. The effects of radiant heat and smoke were increasingly high in the order of n-heptane, gasoline, and diesel. Moreover, the firefighting activities and worker evacuation areas varied greatly depending on the wind speed rather than combustibles. However, because the results of the study cannot exclude the possible dependence on the fire modeling, it is necessary to generalize and standardize the results of the study by accumulating data through various scenarios.

Consideration of the contribution of operating a firefighting robot system for large fires to prevent COVID-19 infection among firefighters

A firefighting robot system has been developed to replace firefighters in dangerous firefighting activities near the source of a large fire. Firefighting activities at the scene of a fire are tasks that require many people working in dense, coordinated cooperation, and there is concern about the spread of COVID-19 infection. This paper outlines the firefighting robot system developed by the authors and discusses its contribution to preventing COVID-19 infection when the robot system is applied to firefighting activities, taking into account the new normal.

The organization and field experimentation studies of wildfires. Experience and practice

The paper gives an overview of experiments on the study of natural fires, carried out by the staff of the Department of Physical and Computational Mechanics of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of TSU. A number of recommendations for safe conduct of experiments are given, the requirements for measuring equipment and its use in conducting firefighting activities are indicated. It is noted that for the early detection of fires, it is best to use measuring equipment that allows you to estimate the number and size of aerosol particles in the air. To register meteorological parameters should be used ultrasonic weather stations, allowing to register the various components of flow velocity and some characteristics of turbulence.

The Politics of Fire and the Social Impacts of Fire Exclusion on the Klamath1

The exceptional biological diversity of the mid-Klamath River region of northern California has emerged in conjunction with sophisticated Karuk land management practices, including the regulation of the forest and fisheries through ceremony and the use of fire. Over three quarters of Karuk traditional food and cultural use species are enhanced by fire. Fire is also central to cultural and spiritual practices. Land management techniques since the early 1900s have emphasized fire suppression and the “exclusion” of wildfire from the landscape. This paper uses data from interviews, surveys and other documents to describe the social impacts of fire exclusion for Karuk tribal members. The exclusion of fire from the ecosystem has a host of interrelated ecological and social impacts including impacts to cultural practice, political sovereignty, social relations, subsistence activities, and the mental and physical health of individual tribal members. In addition, Karuk tribal members are negatively impacted by the effects of catastrophic fires and intensive firefighting activities that in turn result from fire exclusion. Whereas existing literature has addressed ecological and social impacts of changing ecosystems as separate categories, the social, ecological and economic impacts of fire exclusion are here understood to be intrinsically linked.

Evaluation of Mass Spectrometric Methods for Screening Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Particulate Phase of Wildfire/Biomass Smoke.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of compounds containing multiple aromatic rings formed during incomplete combustion. Since many of them are known mutagens and carcinogens, PAHs found in the particulate matter (PM) from the wildfire smoke may pose significant health risks to the wildland firefighters. It is pivotal to determine the levels of PAHs in the PM to evaluate the health effects of their inhalation exposure. However, the determination of PAHs using the conventional chromatographic approaches is often time-consuming and laborious. Herein, we describe a novel method for screening nonpolar and polar PAHs in the PM of smoke by direct analysis in real-time mass spectrometry (DART-MS). PM2.5 and PM10 samples were collected on the quartz filters with a sampling system consisting of a cascade impactor with a portable sampling pump. Various indoor and outdoor experiments from biomass burns were conducted to evaluate the PM sampling systems. PAHs were analyzed by DART-MS and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) methods. The PM samples were collected in California during the wildfire season of fall 2020, and significant levels of multiple nonpolar PAHs and polar PAHs were detected. Overall, the DART-MS method has shown promising ability for high-throughput screening of PAHs in the PM of smoke. Further studies are currently under way to apply this method to study the particulate phase PAH exposures of wildland firefighters during their firefighting activities.

Firefighter undergarments: Assessing contamination and laundering efficacy

• Socks, briefs and crop tops worn during firefighting activities can become contaminated by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. • Laundering resulted in an average reduction in the concentration of ∑ 13 PAHs on socks by 36%, a 9% decrease in ∑ 13 PAHs on briefs and a 160% increase in ∑ 13 PAHs in crop tops. • Domestic laundering processes are insufficient to fully remove the contaminants on such items. • The change in these concentrations of ∑ 13 PAHs did not appear to differ between laundry detergents used. • Firefighters are recommended to remove these items as soon as possible and launder them separately from items as cross contamination within domestic laundry loads was found to occur.

A Study on the Differences between Indoor Job and Outside Job on the Factors of Health Disability in Fire Officials

This study aims to examine the regional differences in health disorder factors of fire officials across the country. As a result, the regional differences in job risk factors, risk factors in the field, and risk factors for health disorders were found to be insignificant. In urban areas such as Seoul, Incheon, and Daejeon, the perception of health disorder factors was similar. This is because the risk factors recognized by fire suppression agents, rescue workers, and paramedics are similar. In addition, in the difference of field risk factors, it is judged that the difference of region is insignificant because most urban areas have narrow jurisdiction and high population density, and the accident frequency in narrow areas is relatively high. Finally, the difference in the risk factors of health disorder was found to be insignificant due to the similar risk factors of fire officials' exposure to fire fighting activities due to smoke in the field, harmful gas, lack of sleep, and cerebral cardiovascular diseases caused by job stress.

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.

The influence of religious beliefs to the practice of zemstvo insurance at the 2nd half of the 19th - early 20th century (based on the materials of Vladimir and Ryazan provinces)

Based on the materials of Vladimir and Ryazan provinces, the influence of mentality and religious beliefs of rural population on zemstvo insurance institute in the 2nd half of the 19th – the early 20th century is analysed in the article. Zemstvos not only insured movable and immovable property from fire, or cattle against various diseases, or fields and crops against natural calamities, but they also carried out mass fire-fighting activities – including planning settlements, planting trees, digging wells, embanking, buying fire-fighting equipment, developing fire-resistant construction. However, sometimes zemstvos failed to involve peasants in insurance operations. Peasants tried to keep their houses, cattle and crops at any cost, but, instead of insuring fields and crops, they often “dissolved” in the depth of religious beliefs and various prejudices. Based on the analysis of a wide range of sources, especially archival ones, zemstvo insurance activity within the territory of Vladimir and Ryazan provinces is studied in the article. The authors conclude that religious beliefs, along with prejudices, still played an important role in the life of rural people of that time, and insurance was viewed by peasants mainly through the prism of different superstitious beliefs.

Evaluating the satisfaction level of citizens in municipality services by using picture fuzzy VIKOR method: 2014-2019 period analysis

In this study, it is aimed to rank the satisfaction levels of the municipality services. For this purpose, 20 municipal services included in the Life Satisfaction Survey (LSS) that the Turkish Statistical Institution regularly applies every year are considered as alternatives. In addition, the satisfaction of citizens was evaluated not only for the last year, but also for the period of 2014-2019, and these years were considered as a set of criteria. LSS statistics contains the citizens' responses which involve such opinion as abstain and refusal besides yes or no answers. For analyze the effect of all types of opinions on decision process, the participant responses constituting the dataset were converted into Picture Fuzzy Numbers (PFNs) consisting of 4 parameters (positive, neutral, negative, and refusal). Finally, we apply utilize VIKOR (VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) method by using PFNs arithmetic operators and evaluate the citizens’ satisfaction levels of the municipality services. As a result, it was determined that the municipal services with the highest satisfaction were graveyard (A18) and fire-fighting (A17) activities, while the services with the lowest satisfaction were zoning and city planning (A10) and control of food producing facilities (A20).

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.

Assessment of causes and control of fire disaster in Arepo neighbourhood, Ogun State, Nigeria

This study examined the occurrence of fire disaster in Arepo community of Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State with emphasis on residential buildings. Questionnaires were administered to 210 adult residents of the neighbourhood while only 150 valid questionnaires are subsequently used for the analysis. Responses were measured on 5-Point Likert scale while the mean score, relative important index as well as frequency and percentages were also used for the analysis. Results were presented with Tables and charts. The study found that residential fire disaster ranked 2nd among the six segments/object of fire disaster that had occurred in the community. It was further observed that faulty electrical appliances, carelessness and faulty cooking gadget ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd among the causes of residential fire outbreak in the neighbourhood and that majority of residential housing units are ill-equipped against fire outbreak within the residential neighbourhood in the community. The study therefore concluded by suggesting that government provide firefighting station in the community of Arepo and that the general public has to be enlightened on the importance of providing active firefighting equipment such as fire alarm system, smoke detector, flame detector, heat detector fire extinguisher etc. in their homes.

Measures to Prevent Assault Damage to 119 EMS Personnel by Restraining Obstruction of Fire-fighting Activities

About 200 cases of 119 Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel suffer from violence annually. Interfering with the work of EMS personnel threatens the safety of people's life, body, and property. It also causes physical and mental damage to EMS personnel and must be improved. In 2021, the revision of the 「Framework Act on Fire-fighting」 established a new regulation that allows fire officers to directly restrain those who interfere with fire-fighting activities. However, misinterpretation or application of this could infringe on the fundamental rights of the people guaranteed by the constitution. EMS personnel should apply this provision only to the minimum extent required. However, they are not familiar with the professional interpretation of the constitution and law; therefore, the national fire agency shall prepare specific internal regulations for article 27-2 of the 「Framework Act on Fire-fighting」. It is also necessary to educate EMS personnel.

Supervised Machine Learning Approaches on Multispectral Remote Sensing Data for a Combined Detection of Fire and Burned Area

Bushfires pose a severe risk, among others, to humans, wildlife, and infrastructures. Rapid detection of fires is crucial for fire-extinguishing activities and rescue missions. Besides, mapping burned areas also supports evacuation and accessibility to emergency facilities. In this study, we propose a generic approach for detecting fires and burned areas based on machine learning (ML) approaches and remote sensing data. While most studies investigated either the detection of fires or mapping burned areas, we addressed and evaluated, in particular, the combined detection on three selected case study regions. Multispectral Sentinel-2 images represent the input data for the supervised ML models. First, we generated the reference data for the three target classes, burned, unburned, and fire, since no reference data were available. Second, the three regional fire datasets were preprocessed and divided into training, validation, and test subsets according to a defined schema. Furthermore, an undersampling approach ensured the balancing of the datasets. Third, seven selected supervised classification approaches were used and evaluated, including tree-based models, a self-organizing map, an artificial neural network, and a one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN). All selected ML approaches achieved satisfying classification results. Moreover, they performed a highly accurate fire detection, while separating burned and unburned areas was slightly more challenging. The 1D-CNN and extremely randomized tree were the best-performing models with an overall accuracy score of 98% on the test subsets. Even on an unknown test dataset, the 1D-CNN achieved high classification accuracies. This generalization is even more valuable for any use-case scenario, including the organization of fire-fighting activities or civil protection. The proposed combined detection could be extended and enhanced with crowdsourced data in further studies.

A review of test methods for evaluating mobility of firefighters wearing personal protective equipment.

This review aimed to suggest useful, potential measurements as standard test methods for evaluating the mobility of structural firefighters wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). Based on our previous research on Japanese firefighters’ activities related to mobility as well as previous literature results, the findings were categorized (e.g., simulated firefighting activities, test method for mobility assessment, and participants groups), and discussed. We identified four categories that can be used to test and evaluate mobility: (1) simulated firefighting activities consisting of step-ups, obstacle strides, crawling, dragging, and jumping; (2) in terms of balance ability, the postural sway and functional balance tests (functional reach and timed up and go) were useful measurements; (3) range of motion can be used to estimate the mobility associated with the various designs of PPE, as well as the effect of wearing the PPE itself; and (4) subjective evaluations of individuals wearing PPE were available for the mobility assessments. Professional firefighters who were familiar with wearing PPE were suitable for the suggested test method. This review provides useful information for firefighters, researchers, and PPE manufacturers that can be used to develop more comfortable and safer PPE.

Experimental Study on the Thermal Effect according to the Distance around a Hydrogen Jet Flame

In this study, the safe distance in the case of a hydrogen vehicle fire was analyzed according to the temperature distribution around a hydrogen gas jet flame formed by the thermally activated pressure relief device operation of a hydrogen storage container. The experiment was conducted while 70 MPa hydrogen gas was released from a 1.8-mm-diameter nozzle to a 1.8- × 1.8 m fire-resistant structure wall for distances of 2 and 4 m between the nozzle output and the wall. To analyze the temperature around the hydrogen gas jet flame, five fire-fighting heat-protective hood test samples, certified by the Korea Fire Institute, and temperature sensors were installed every 1 m from the center of the jet flame in the vertical direction to the direction of the flame. In the experiment, the temperature around the jet flame was measured to observe the safe distance for firefighters. The results show that the safe distances at 70°C or less, which is harmless to firefighters, were 5 m without a heat-protective hood and 3 m with a heat-protective hood. In addition, it was confirmed that the direction of the jet flame and blocking by obstacles affect the safe distance during fire-fighting and rescue activities by firefighters.

Smart Wearables with Sensor Fusion for Fall Detection in Firefighting.

During the past decade, falling has been one of the top three causes of death amongst firefighters in China. Even though there are many studies on fall-detection systems (FDSs), the majority use a single motion sensor. Furthermore, few existing studies have considered the impact sensor placement and positioning have on fall-detection performance; most are targeted toward fall detection of the elderly. Unfortunately, floor cracks and unstable building structures in the fireground increase the difficulty of detecting the fall of a firefighter. In particular, the movement activities of firefighters are more varied; hence, distinguishing fall-like activities from actual falls is a significant challenge. This study proposed a smart wearable FDS for firefighter fall detection by integrating motion sensors into the firefighter’s personal protective clothing on the chest, elbows, wrists, thighs, and ankles. The firefighter’s fall activities are detected by the proposed multisensory recurrent neural network, and the performances of different combinations of inertial measurement units (IMUs) on different body parts were also investigated. The results indicated that the sensor fusion of IMUs from all five proposed body parts achieved performances of 94.10%, 92.25%, and 94.59% in accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, respectively.