House Fire Research Articles

Measures to Improve the Effect of Installation of Firefighting Systems in Home

Since the Firefighting Facilities Act mandated the installation of residential firefighting systems, the incidence of deaths in house fires has been lowered. Although there is a regulation requiring the installation of firefighting facilities in homes according to the Firefighting Facilities Act, there is no penalty provision. Therefore, new regulations should be established and building owners should report on the installation of firefighting facilities. If a fire occurs in the living room of a house and the independent alarm-type detector operates, the sound volumes transmitted into a room through the wall and door are 72.2 and 86.1%, respectively; therefore if an alarm is set off when the occupant is asleep, evacuation may be delayed. The standard should be revised to install an independent alarm-type detector that triggers an alarm that is sufficiently effective to reduce human casualties.

“Just Right” Policing: a Job for Science

Research QuestionCan police develop the concept of “signal failures” to build a science of “just right” policing, learning from the mistakes of both “under-policing” and “over-policing”?DataQualitative documentation of “signal failure” events across the history of Anglo-American policing that have generated widespread public disapproval of police actions or inactions.MethodsThis communication analyzes and illustrates the potential value of applying scientific methods to signal failures, as a potential source of learning from past failures to prevent future disapproval.FindingsThere are at least four dimensions for pre-mortems against signal failures: quantity of officers present at an incident, quantity of force used by police, quality of choices police make in deciding what to do, and quality of how well police do what is decided to be done. Signal failures can be collected historically and contemporaneously in large police forces, or across multiple smaller forces at a state or provincial level. They can be compared to samples of similar events that did not become signal failures. Even a simple case-control comparison can be a method for predicting which dimension of an event might be most likely to cause a signal failure. Yet building such data bases requires that police records systems become easier to access, so that both internal and external research can be done to enhance “just right” policing.ConclusionLike many rare events, it is convenient to dismiss signal failures as “flukes” with little potential for prevention. But like airplane crashes and house fires, rare events can be made even rarer. The value of the scientific method cannot be dismissed without testing its application to these major threats to police legitimacy. “Just right” policing may depend on it.

Electricity outages and residential fires: Evidence from Cape Town, South Africa

AbstractAt the end of 2014, South Africa was unexpectedly required to implement load shedding, which is electricity blackouts aimed at relieving strain on the electrical grid. Soon after, it was revealed that the nationally owned power company, Eskom, had been neglecting infrastructure maintenance and that the people should expect load shedding to continue for many more years. The article considers the prevalence of fires as a potential consequence of load shedding. In addition to power surging that increases fire risk, this article investigates changes in household energy consumption as a mechanism by which load shedding would increase house fires. After load shedding started, there is evidence that households substituted away from using electricity to alternative energy sources for cooking and lighting that have increased fire risks. Using a novel data set, this article exploits plausibly exogenous variation in the timing and spacing of load shedding, estimates show that likelihood of residential fires increases when load shedding occurs in an area.

LPG Mass Monitoring Scale with Automatic Gas Leakage Detector System

A crucial requirement used in everyday human life is the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or, more generally, cooking gas. However, problems arise for LPG users when the cooking process is disrupted due to running out of cooking gas without them realized that the volume of gas has reached a critical level. In addition, gas leaks may also occur which can cause the house fire. Therefore, this study aims to develop a product that can monitor the remaining volume of cooking gas content in a gas cylinder using a load sensor. The LPG weight value is through LCD display and LED from three different levels, which is green (full), yellow (medium), and red (critical) where it receives programming instructions from Arduino Uno. The product also performs a function of gas leak detector by using the MQ-2 gas sensor and the user will receive a notification warning about the gas leak via buzzer and SMS sent by ESP32. The development process for monitoring scale and gas leakage detector for liquid petroleum gas (LPG) is based on the adapted from the Engineering Design Process Model (EDP), which consists of five phases, namely identify the problem, gather information, select the best solution, develop model, testing and evaluation. The results show that the developed product able to functioning well. However, in terms of product design there is still room for improvement especially for the size of the product and the gas sensor position to make it more user friendly.

The use of fire and threats to burn in the context of domestic and family violence and coercive control

ABSTRACT Fire can be harnessed by abusive partners or ex-partners in their efforts to maintain and regain control in an abusive relationship. Reports about the use of fire in the context of domestic and family violence are not uncommon in the media, with incidents of house fires, burning cars and using fire to kill or cause harm and threats to burn ex-partners and children being regularly reported. This article analyses 49 reported legal cases where the offender has been found guilty of a criminal offence when they used or threatened to use fire to cause harm in the context of domestic and family violence. It considers how fire is used in abusive relationships to exert control, and it examines the co-occurrence of mental health and drug misuse issues in the cases. The article concludes that fire departments are an important part of the domestic and family violence safety system. It also identifies that the use of fire as a tool of abuse in the context of domestic and family violence is under-examined in Australia and makes some suggestions for further research.

Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on causes for the development of carbon monoxide intoxications

Introduction: Several causes can lead to carbon monoxide (CO) intoxication. A first-line treatment option for such intoxications is hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO2) therapy. The COVID-19 pandemic has been changing everyday life in Germany since March 2020, mainly caused by statutory provisions. Our aim was to review whether these changes have an influence on the causes and frequency for the development of CO intoxication. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of patients who were treated for CO intoxication in our institution between April 2019 and March 2021. Besides demographic data, we compared the overall number and documented causes for each CO intoxication in the period of April 2020 to March 2021 with the period between April 2019 and March 2020. Results: After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 139 patients were included. We found a significant decrease in the overall number of patients who needed treatment since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the share of CO intoxication caused by the indoor use of coal stoves, coal barbecue, or suicide attempts increased. In contrast, the share of cases caused by apartment or house fire, smoking waterpipe, or gas stoves decreased. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated restrictions lead to a significant reduction in the number of patients in need for HBO2 therapy due to CO-Intoxication. The causes leading to CO intoxication also changed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We observed a shift toward causes related to the indoor use of coal-fired stoves and barbecues as well as suicide attempts.

The effects of burning on isotope ratio values in modern bone: Importance of experimental design for forensic applications

This study examined preservation of isotope ratio values by comparing isotope composition of bones before and after burning. We analyzed common geoprofiling isotope systems (δ13C, δ15N, δ18O, and 87Sr/86Sr) and lesser studied systems (δ34S and δ88/86Sr) to evaluate if inferences about diet and residence history were altered by the burning process. We used two burn methods: one to simulate previous academic studies using a muffle furnace and one to more closely resemble a house fire or body disposal attempt using open flame. To mimic previous burn studies, ribs and femora from four dry modern human skeletons were heated in a muffle furnace. To resemble a forensic burn situation, fleshed pig ribs from a single geographic location were burned on an open fire both with and without use of a diesel accelerant. Isotope ratios from bone collagen, carbonate, phosphate, and strontium were analyzed. Fleshed pig samples burned in an open fire maintained unaltered isotope ratio values. Dry human samples burned in a muffle furnace maintained unaltered isotope ratio values in most isotope systems, except for δ18O values in carbonate and phosphate, which showed a depletion of 18O at higher temperatures. This research suggests that the isotope composition of fleshed burned bone retains the geoprofiling inferences of unburned bone, at least within the parameters of the open fire burn used in this study. However, oxygen isotopes of carbonate and phosphate from dry bone burned in a muffle furnace do not retain the geoprofiling inferences. This research demonstrates the need for research using an experimental design relevant to a specific burn situation.

Evaluation of potential toxicity of smoke from controlled burns of furnished rooms – effect of flame retardancy

ABSTRACT It has been reported that incorporation of fire retardants into home furnishings and electronics increases the toxicity of smoke produced during combustion in house fires. Studies have been limited to exercises in analytical chemistry but the biological effects of emissions, particularly regarding chronic toxicity, have not been investigated. The combustion of furnishings with and without chemical flame retardants (FR) regarding (1) ignition resistance and fire progression, (2) chemical composition of smoke (analytical chemistry), and (3) toxicity was compared. Data demonstrated that flame retarded furnishings slowed the generation of toxic levels of acutely toxic gases. The potential chronic toxicity of smoke was assessed using the ToxTracker® assay. Smoke samples from rooms with less flame retarded furnishings exhibited a lesser response in this assay than smoke samples from rooms with flame retarded furnishings. Chemicals associated with activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), namely benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[a]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene, chrysene, and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, were not found in smoke from more flame retarded furnished rooms, but were present only in smoke from rooms with less flame retarded furnishings. In conclusion, smoke resulting from combustion of flame retarded furnishings did not increase indicators of potential chronic toxicity hazards relative to non-flame retarded furnishings.

A Comprehensive, Retrospective Analysis of Variables for Potential Mortality Impact in Patients With Thermal or Inhalation Injury.

Age, percentage TBSA burned, and the presence of inhalation injury have been used historically in the prediction of mortality in thermally injured patients despite other factors being also associated with mortality. Recent literature has identified novel factors associated with increased length of stay (LOS) and may provide a better prediction model for mortality in burn patients. The study objective was to perform a subset analysis of a multitude of known and novel variables for potential association with mortality. Demographics and injury characteristics along with during stay variables were collected and analyzed. This study is a re-analysis of a retrospective study examining variables associated with increased LOS. Of the 629 patients screened, 396 were included in the analysis. After univariable analysis, 35 variables had significant associations with mortality, including age, house fire, acute kidney injury, heart failure, inhalation injury, and history of diabetes. After multivariable analysis, the best performing model included heart failure, acute kidney injury, admission Glasgow Coma Scale score, and revised Baux score. Quantile analysis of age revealed greater than 60 years was most predictive of mortality. The best multivariable model for patients greater than 60 years old included heart failure, vasopressor use, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and TBSA burned. Considering only variables present on admission, the best multivariable model for patients greater than 60 years old included heart failure, % TBSA burned, and inhalation injury. The addition of variables into current prediction models and databases may be warranted.

Elevated methemoglobin levels in patients treated with hydroxocobalamin: a case series and in-vitro analysis

Background Historically, the first step in treating cyanide (CN-) toxicity utilized antidotes to induce methemoglobinemia. This is concerning in patients who are already hypoxemic or have elevated carboxyhemoglobin. Hydroxocobalamin (OHCbl) is now the first-line antidote for CN- toxicity and is not known to induce methemoglobinemia. We observed elevated methemoglobin (MetHb) levels in several patients treated with OHCbl and sought to investigate the incidence of MetHb formation following administration of OHCbl. Methods Chart review: A single-center, retrospective case series of patients who received 5 or 10 g of hydroxocobalamin from 01/01/2011 through 04/30/2019. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. In-vitro study: Discarded blood was separated into whole blood and plasma samples. OHCbl and normal saline was added to reach 0×, 1×, 2×, and 4× peak therapeutic concentrations and analyzed at times 0, 2, and 4 h after administration. Results Chart review: Twenty-seven cases of OHCbl administration were identified. The median age was 53 years (IQR 38 − 64) and 20 (74.1%) were male. Exposure to a house fire or smoke inhalation was the reason for OHCbl administration in 21 (77.8%) patients. Five (18.5%) patients received 10 g of OHCbl while the rest received 5 g. Six (22.2%) patients developed methemoglobinemia, all after 5 g OHCbl administration; four had been exposed to fire and smoke, two received the medication for severe acidosis of unknown etiology not related to fire or smoke. The median peak level was 7.1% (IQR 2.2 − 16.4%) at a median time of 11.4 h post-administration. Two patients received methylene blue (MB), neither responded. Death occurred in 17 (63%) cases. In-vitro study: We observed a dose dependent elevation in total hemoglobin but did not detect any increase in MetHb. Conclusion We observed a noteworthy temporal association between the formation of methemoglobinemia and the administration of hydroxocobalamin. This does not appear to be an artifact of the CO-oximeters. This could have profound implications for patients who are already hypoxemic or have impaired oxygen carrying capacity from carboxyhemoglobin.

Sistem Pemadam Kebakaran Otomatis Berkonsep Smarthouse

Home fire disasters are still common around us. This problem is a challenge in order to be able to find a solution. One solution to secure a home from a potential fire is to apply smarthome technology. Based on this problem, the idea arose to make an automatic fire extinguisher that can spray water with a water pump when it detects smoke (CO) due to a fire and circulates air in the room with an exhaust fan when an LPG gas cylinder leak is detected in the house so as to prevent a house fire. This tool is planned to be connected to the GSM module so that wherever we are we can find out if there is a fire in our home. This tool is made by utilizing the Smoke Gas Sensor (MQ 2), Temperature Sensor (LM35), Arduino Uno, GSM SIM 900 Module, Relay, Buzer, Exhaust Fan and Water Pump as its main components. Arduino Uno is used as the controller of this machine. The GSM SIM 900 Shield module is used for connection via SMS as a remote notification notification, LM35 as a temperature detector, and MQ 2 as a butane gas detector when there is a leak of LPG gas cylinders and fire smoke (CO) when a fire occurs. This tool can extinguish fires using a water pump from the detection of smoke (CO) and temperatures when more than 500 ppm and 40oC and circulate air using an exhaust fan with additional safety features when there is an LPG gas leak when gas is detected 500 ppm and send it with notification notification via SMS using the GSM SIM 900 module Shield. The measured voltage of the MQ2 sensor when clean air reaches 189.3 mV and the percent error of the LM35 reaches 0.88423%.

Mechanical or thermal damage: differentiating between underlying mechanisms as a cause of bone fractures

To investigate the differences between pre- and post-fire fractures, 30 human forearm bones were subjected to either blunt-force impact, burning, or both. Bones, covered in soft tissue and wrapped in clothing, were burned in a reconstructed house fire. The burning context and dynamics led to differential burning, that was equal amongst the three groups. To evaluate the damage to the bones, a data collection sheet was developed based on the current literature on fracture features. To analyze the relation between exposure temperature and fracture class and occurrence, color was measured to estimate the exposure temperature. Observable and measurable changes on bone, and fracture surfaces, were macro- and microscopically analyzed. Many features overlapped between the three groups, and thus are not usable for differentiation. Fractures caused by blunt force impact (post-mortem, pre-fire) showed a rough fracture surface with smoothness in curved/slanted regions near the margin after burning, while heat-induced bone fractures showed a smooth fracture surface. The margins and surface of bone fractures that originated after the fire (indirect heat-induced) were evenly discolored, whereas heat-induced bone fractures showed uneven discoloration of the fracture margin and surface. Although there were generally more heat-induced fractures in the 450–700 °C range, no other distinctive trend was observed between exposure temperature and class of fractures.

Integration of Wifi and Mobile Communications in Fire Early Warning Data Sending in Home Based on The Internet of Things

House fires are one of the disasters that are often encountered in the community, especially when the area is a dry geographical area. Not to mention the catastrophic house fires that took the most lives and losses for homeowners. The purpose of this research is how to build a disaster early warning system by utilizing the integration of wifi and cellular communications. In this study using blackbox testing and hardware testing methods as well as several tools such as Arduino Mega2560, ESP32, DHT-22, MQ-2, LDR Array, SIM900, Pump Mini DC and Fan Mini DC. After the results of the system design, where the system works with online and offline conditions and as well as each sensor works according to the input conditions of fire, gas and smoke.

Man With Altered Mental Status

A 54-year-old man was brought to the emergency department by ambulance for altered mental status during a house fire. Per emergency medical services’ report, he had been rescued from his apartment’s bathroom floor, filled with smoke. The patient’s carbon monoxide level was measured using a pulse co-oximeter and found to be at an unreadable high level. Therefore, he was intubated to maintain his airway given his altered mental status, seizures, and potential for inhalational injury. Upon physical examination, there were no overt signs of trauma or burns.

Impact of Cyanokit Administration on Point-of-Care Glucose and Laboratory Test Accuracy.

A 52-year-old woman was brought to a community hospital by emergency medical services after being pulled from a multistory house fire. Initial treatment included one dose of Cyanokit (5 g, hydroxocobalamin) before she was med-flighted to our institution at approximately 07:50 AM. Initial evaluation included a plasma basic metabolic panel (BMP), coagulation studies, arterial blood gas (BGAS) panel, and point-of-care (POC) whole blood glucose measurements. The clinical laboratory was contacted early in the patient’s initial presentation due to markedly discrepant and clinically significant differences in the 3 different glucose results originating from the BMP glucose, BGAS glucose, and the POC glucose. Figure 1, A illustrates the varying concentrations obtained during the initial evaluation of the patient. Notably, glucose concentrations varied greatly by the POC method, ranging from <20 to 489 mg/dL. Three measurements (indicated by X), two by POC and one by arterial BGAS, were suspected to be contaminated with the dextrose infusion administered to the patient. Excluding these measurements, the POC glucose results ranged from 4 to 173 mg/dL lower than the time-paired (±10 minutes) BMP plasma glucose and arterial BGAS glucose measurements (Table 1).

Design and Construction of Smart House Prototype Based Internet of Things (Iot) Using Esp8266

IoT (Internet of Things) is a concept that aims to expand the benefits of continuously connected internet connectivity continuously. IoT can be used at home as a smart home system for controlling electronic equipment that can be operated by means ofinternet connection (WiFi). This IoT-based smart home system uses ESP 8266 microcontroller as hardware and blynk application as a tool controller and control. This system consists of a lamp controller, knowing humidity and room temperature, detection of human movement at home abandoned, early detection of fire sources to prevent house fires, and LPG gas leak detector for home security. There are four sensors used are PIR sensors to detect human movement, MQ2 sensor to detect LPG gas leaks, flame sensor to detect LPG gas leaks early detection of fire, and the DHT11 sensor to determine humidity and temperature. The design of this system uses a relay which is used as a liaison lamp with system.

Sistem Deteksi Api Berbasis Internet Of Things Untuk Mencegah Terjadinya Kebakaran Rumah

Along with the times, the use of electricity is also increasing due to the use of electronic goods which are a necessity in this modern era which can be one of the factors that cause fires in the house, the factors for the occurrence of fires are natural factors, namely earthquakes, lightning strikes , volcanic eruptions, and drought, while the human factor itself is the installation of poor electrical installations at home can result in short circuits and cause fires, starting fires in places that are easy to trigger fires such as starting fires near fuel (gasoline) storage, using equipment cooking, and forgetting to unplug electronics when traveling. Therefore, in writing this thesis the title taken is Internet of Things-Based Fire Detection System to Prevent House Fires made using the Prototype Method, the system created is expected to help overcome or prevent fires in people's homes, as well as provide information to homeowners who is going to the smartphone owner of the house, and also sounds the fire alarm so that residents or residents around the house know that the house is on fire, so that residents can evacuate their belongings and can also help extinguish the fire in the house, because The density of housing or settlements in the city of Bekasi is very possible for the potential for fires to occur, and also to reduce the spread of Corona Virus 19 (Covid-19), this research was conducted at Wahana Harapan Housing Block D1 No.15.

Integrating drones, participatory mapping and GIS to enhance resiliency for remote villages

AbstractIndigenous communities in developing regions are impacted by frequent disasters and the erosion of their culture with the trend of modernization. Additionally, their efforts to reduce risk have been hampered by the fact that these communities lack a sufficiently detailed map of their territories. In the absence of professional surveying instruments and costly high‐resolution satellite imagery, this study uses drone‐captured imagery, participatory methods, and GIS to produce the first publicly accessible infrastructure and resource data set for indigenous communities in southwest China. The resulting maps enable the data‐poor indigenous communities to be aware of their housing fire risk, historical building preservation status, and potential economic resources such as tourist attractions. The maps created are expected to build resiliency in these communities which is of significance to many hard‐to‐reach communities around the world for disaster prevention, economic planning, and cultural preservation.

Images of Homelessness: The Home of the Needy Aged

Homelessness in 1880s New Zealand, as reported in the press, appears to be more intimate and less melodramatic than overseas examples. House fires, such as that of William Beals' eight-roomed house in Epsom, the destruction by fire of Mr Keogh's seven-roomed dwelling on the north-west side of Mount Pukekaroro, and the 1884 fire which broke out "on the grounds of St. Mary's Orphanage, Ponsonby" are examples. Chronic homelessness, when it appears, occurs via the reporting of institutional and architectural support structures. The paper will examine a specific example of an architecture for the homeless: the Home for the Needy Aged in Newtown, Wellington.

Evaluation of prehospital hydroxocobalamin use in the setting of smoke inhalation.

The indications for prehospital hydroxocobalamin are not well defined. The aim of this study was to evaluate prehospital signs and symptoms in patients who received hydroxocobalamin to improve future use. In this retrospective study, all patients who received prehospital Hydroxocobalamin at a tertiary care burn center from December 2012 to March 2018 were reviewed. Each case was evaluated for evidence of suspected cyanide toxicity: hypotension, syncope, CNS depression/altered mentation, seizures, respiratory or cardiac arrest. A determination was made whether or not hydroxocobalamin was indicated. In this study, EMS providers administered hydroxocobalamin to 42 patients between December 2012 and March 2018. The majority (71%) of suspected cyanide exposures were from house fires. The most common prehospital findings were coma or depressed CNS (36%), followed by hypotension (16%) and cardiac arrest (12%). Sixty percent of patients treated with hydroxocobalamin had none of the six clinical indicators for potential cyanide toxicity. Carboxyhemoglobin and serum lactate were significantly different in patients that had a clinical indication for hydroxocobalamin compared to those who did not. Prehospital hydroxocobalamin was used empirically however, indications are unclear. Using defined clinical indications may provide greater clarity for providers and reduce unnecessary use of hydroxocobalamin.