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Fire
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Fire Safety and Emergency Evacuation
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Fire Safety and Emergency Evacuation

A special issue of Fire (ISSN 2571-6255).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 14507

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Wei Xie

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610207, China
Interests: pedestrian traffic; evacuation dynamics; fire safety engineering; human behavior in emergency; disaster management
Prof. Dr. Eric Lee

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Interests: fire safety engineering; building evacuation; human behaviour in fire crowd movement; pedestrian
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Yuchun Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Fire Protection Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China
Interests: intelligent fire protection; tunnel fire; safety engineering; evacuation; emergency rescue technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Tao Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Fire Protection Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China
Interests: fire dynamics; smoke control; fire simulation; fire safety design; tunnel fire

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to submit an article to this Special Issue, titled “Fire Safety and Emergency Evacuation”, which aims to gather groundbreaking research, innovative technologies, and insightful perspectives to enhance our understanding of fire science and improve emergency evacuation procedures. Given that fires pose significant threats to human lives, infrastructure, and the environment, recent incidents worldwide have highlighted the urgent need for comprehensive strategies and advancements in fire safety and emergency evacuation. As we witness the increasing frequency and severity of fire-related disasters, it becomes imperative for researchers, engineers, policymakers, and practitioners to collaborate and contribute their expertise to this pressing issue.

This Special Issue will therefore serve as a platform for the dissemination of cutting-edge research and knowledge in this field. We invite researchers from diverse disciplines, including (but not limited to) fire engineering, materials science, civil engineering, public policy, and psychology, to submit their original research articles, reviews, and case studies to this Special Issue.

Potential topics of interest include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Fire experiment, modeling, and simulation;
  • Smoke characteristics, transport, and control;
  • Fire-resistant materials and building design;
  • Evacuation experiment, modeling, and simulation;
  • Crowd dynamics and crowd management strategies;
  • Human behavior and decision-making in emergencies;
  • Fire safety regulations, policies, and standards.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Wei Xie
Prof. Dr. Eric Lee
Prof. Dr. Yuchun Zhang
Dr. Tao Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fire is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fire safety
  • fire risk assessment
  • smoke control
  • crowd dynamics
  • evacuation
  • disaster management
  • artificial intelligence

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review, Other

16 pages, 5231 KiB  
Article
Study on the Performance of Upstream Obstacles Under Different Exit Loads
by Hongpeng Qiu, Zheng Fang and Hanchen Yu
Fire 2025, 8(5), 174; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire8050174 - 30 Apr 2025
Viewed by 257
Abstract
Obstacles “upstream” of the exit significantly impact evacuation efficiency and deserve attention. Based on the discrete cellular automaton model, this paper studies the impact of different obstacle settings on evacuation efficiency in different emergency levels under different exit loads. Through simulation, we found [...] Read more.
Obstacles “upstream” of the exit significantly impact evacuation efficiency and deserve attention. Based on the discrete cellular automaton model, this paper studies the impact of different obstacle settings on evacuation efficiency in different emergency levels under different exit loads. Through simulation, we found that at low emergency levels, the appearance of obstacles has little impact on evacuation efficiency, while at high emergency levels, the changes in evacuation efficiency vary greatly under different obstacle settings: when the exit is relatively wide (evacuation pressure is low) and has the “faster is faster” effect, obstacles upstream of the exit reduce the evacuation efficiency, and setting obstacles directly opposite of the safety exit has the most obvious impact on the evacuation efficiency; while when the exit is narrow (evacuation pressure is high) and has the “faster is slower” effect, appropriately setting obstacles can slightly improve the evacuation efficiency. Our findings help to understand the impact of obstacles on evacuation efficiency under different exit loads to set upstream obstacles reasonably. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire Safety and Emergency Evacuation)
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25 pages, 3788 KiB  
Article
Emotional Induction Among Firefighters Using Audiovisual Stimuli: An Experimental Study
by Frédéric Antoine-Santoni, Arielle Syssau, Claude Devichi, Jean-Louis Rossi, Thierry Marcelli, François-Joseph Chatelon, Adil Yakhloufi, Pauline-Marie Ortoli, Sofiane Meradji, Lucile Rossi, Jean-Paul Jauffret, Stéphane Chatton and Dominique Grandjean-Kruslin
Fire 2025, 8(3), 111; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire8030111 - 14 Mar 2025
Viewed by 1249
Abstract
This study investigates the effectiveness of immersive audiovisual simulations in eliciting emotional responses and replicating the psychological and cognitive demands of high-risk operational environments, particularly in firefighting scenarios. Conducted in two successive phases, the research first employed a pilot study involving 90 participants [...] Read more.
This study investigates the effectiveness of immersive audiovisual simulations in eliciting emotional responses and replicating the psychological and cognitive demands of high-risk operational environments, particularly in firefighting scenarios. Conducted in two successive phases, the research first employed a pilot study involving 90 participants (45 firefighters and 45 students) who were exposed to a controlled audiovisual simulation. Emotional responses were assessed using the Differential Emotion Scale (DES), the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The second phase involved an immersive room experiment with 36 firefighters, where the same audiovisual stimulus was presented in a fully immersive environment, integrating interactive decision-making tasks to enhance ecological validity. The findings indicate that both methods effectively elicited the targeted emotional responses, including stress, fear, anger, and serenity, with firefighters exhibiting greater emotional regulation and adaptive coping strategies compared to students. The immersive room environment significantly amplified emotional engagement, resulting in stronger emotional responses from the first scene onward. These results underscore the potential of immersive training tools in preparing emergency responders for high-stress situations by strengthening psychological resilience, improving emotional regulation, and optimizing decision-making under pressure. The study contributes to advancing evidence-based training methodologies in emergency response, public safety, and crisis management, emphasizing the importance of integrating immersive technologies into professional training programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire Safety and Emergency Evacuation)
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16 pages, 3606 KiB  
Article
Impact of Virtual Reality on Decision-Making and Risk Assessment During Simulated Residential Fire Scenarios
by Micah D. Russell, Justin W. Bonny and Randal Reed
Fire 2024, 7(12), 427; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7120427 - 22 Nov 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1417
Abstract
Recent research has used virtual environments (VEs), as presented via virtual reality (VR) headsets, to study human behavior in hypothetical fire scenarios. One goal of using VEs in fire scenarios is to elicit patterns of behavior which more closely align to how individuals [...] Read more.
Recent research has used virtual environments (VEs), as presented via virtual reality (VR) headsets, to study human behavior in hypothetical fire scenarios. One goal of using VEs in fire scenarios is to elicit patterns of behavior which more closely align to how individuals would react to real fire emergency situations. The present study investigated whether elicited behaviors and perceived risk varied during fire scenarios presented as VEs via two viewing conditions. These included a VR condition, where the VE was rendered as 360-degree videos presented in a VR headset, and a screen condition, where VEs were rendered as fixed-view videos via a computer monitor screen. We predicted that the selection of actions during the scenario would vary between conditions, that participants would rate fires as more dangerous if they developed more quickly and when smoke was rendered as thicker, and that participants would report greater levels of immersion in the VR condition. A total of 159 participants completed a decision-making task where they viewed videos of an incipient fire in a residential building and judged what action to take. Initial action responses to the fire scenarios varied between both viewing and smoke conditions, with those assigned to the thicker smoke and screen conditions being more likely to take protective action. Risk ratings also varied by smoke condition, with evidence of higher perceived risk for thicker smoke. Several factors of self-reported immersion (namely ‘interest’, ‘emotional attachment’, ‘focus of attention’, and ‘flow’) were associated with risk ratings, with perceived presence associated with initial actions. The present study provides evidence that enhancing immersion and perceived risk in a VE contributes to a different pattern of behaviors during simulated fire decision-making tasks. While our investigation only addressed the ideas of presence in an environment, future research should investigate the relative contribution of interactivity and consequences within the environment to further identify how behaviors during simulated fire scenarios are affected by each of these factors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire Safety and Emergency Evacuation)
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17 pages, 30131 KiB  
Article
Planning Wildfire Evacuation in the Wildland–Urban Interfaces of Central Portugal
by Adélia N. Nunes, Carlos D. Pinto, Albano Figueiredo and Luciano Lourenço
Fire 2024, 7(6), 199; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7060199 - 14 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1897
Abstract
In recent decades, wildfires have become common disasters that threaten people’s lives and assets, particularly in wildland–urban interfaces (WUIs). Developing an effective evacuation strategy for a WUI presents challenges to emergency planners because of the spatial variations in biophysical hazards and social vulnerability. [...] Read more.
In recent decades, wildfires have become common disasters that threaten people’s lives and assets, particularly in wildland–urban interfaces (WUIs). Developing an effective evacuation strategy for a WUI presents challenges to emergency planners because of the spatial variations in biophysical hazards and social vulnerability. The aim of this study was to map priority WUIs in terms of evacuation. The factors considered were the seriousness of the risk of wildfire exposure, and the population centres whose greatest constraints on the evacuation process stemmed from the nature of the exposed population and the time required to travel to the nearest shelter/refuge. An integrated framework linking wildfire hazard, social vulnerability, and the time taken to travel by foot or by car to the nearest refuge/shelter was applied. The study area includes two municipalities (Lousã and Sertã) in the mountainous areas of central Portugal that are in high-wildfire-risk areas and have very vulnerable and scattered pockets of exposed population. The combination of wildfire risk and travelling time to the nearest shelters made it possible to identify 20% of the WUIs that were priority areas for evacuation in the case of Sertã. In the case of Lousã, 3.4% were identified, because they were highly exposed to wildfire risk and had a travelling time to the nearest shelter of more than 15 min on foot. These results can assist in designing effective pre-fire planning, based on fuel management strategies and/or managing an effective and safe evacuation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire Safety and Emergency Evacuation)
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19 pages, 1775 KiB  
Article
Modelling Context Effects in Exit Choice for Building Evacuations
by Dongli Gao, Xuanwen Liang, Qian Chen, Hongpeng Qiu and Eric Wai Ming Lee
Fire 2024, 7(5), 169; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7050169 - 17 May 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1761
Abstract
Understanding exit choice behaviour is essential for optimising safety management strategies in building evacuations. Previous research focused on contextual attributes, such as spatial information, influencing exit choice, often using utility models based on monotonic functions of attributes. However, during emergencies, evacuees typically make [...] Read more.
Understanding exit choice behaviour is essential for optimising safety management strategies in building evacuations. Previous research focused on contextual attributes, such as spatial information, influencing exit choice, often using utility models based on monotonic functions of attributes. However, during emergencies, evacuees typically make rapid, less calculated decisions. The choice of context can significantly impact the evaluation of attributes, leading to preference reversals within the same choice set but under varying context conditions. This cognitive psychological phenomenon, known as context effects, encompasses the compromise effect, the similarity effect, and the attraction effect. While researchers have long recognised the pivotal role of context effects in human decision making, their incorporation into computer-aided evacuation management remains limited. To address this gap, we introduce context effects (CE) in a social force (SF) model, CE-SF. Evaluating CE-SF’s performance against the UF-SF model, which considers only the utility function (UF), we find that CE-SF better replicates exit choice behaviour across urgency levels, highlighting its potential to enhance evacuation strategies. Notably, our study identifies three distinct context effects during evacuations, emphasising their importance in advancing safety measures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire Safety and Emergency Evacuation)
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Review

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30 pages, 9026 KiB  
Review
Integration of Industry 4.0 Technologies in Fire and Safety Management
by Prafful Negi, Ashish Pathani, Bhuvan Chandra Bhatt, Siddharth Swami, Rajesh Singh, Anita Gehlot, Amit Kumar Thakur, Lovi Raj Gupta, Neeraj Priyadarshi, Bhekisipho Twala and Vineet Singh Sikarwar
Fire 2024, 7(10), 335; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7100335 - 25 Sep 2024
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4500
Abstract
The incorporation of Industry 4.0 has integrated various innovations into fire safety management, thus changing the mode of identifying, assessing, and controlling fire risks. This review aims at how emerging technologies like IoT, AI, cloud technology, and BIM are making changes to fire [...] Read more.
The incorporation of Industry 4.0 has integrated various innovations into fire safety management, thus changing the mode of identifying, assessing, and controlling fire risks. This review aims at how emerging technologies like IoT, AI, cloud technology, and BIM are making changes to fire safety in structural structures. With IoT-enabled sensors, data, and analytics coupled with predictive algorithms for real-time scenarios, fire safety systems have become dynamic systems where early detection, quick response, and risk management can be achieved. In addition, cloud web-based solutions improve the storage of information while providing the predictive aspect for certainty of safety measures. This paper also largely focuses on such activities through the likes of ISO/IEC 30141 and IEEE 802.15.4, thus making a critical role in maintaining effective connectivity between IoT devices, which is necessary for the effective performance of fire safety systems. Furthermore, the implementation issues, including the high costs, the difficulty in scaling up the projects, and the cybersecurity concerns, are considered and compared to the possible solutions, which include upgrading in stages and the possibility of subsidies from the government. The review also points out areas for further study, such as the creation of small cell networks with lower latency, the use of AI to carry out the maintenance of IoTs, and the enhancement of protection mechanisms of systems that are based on the IoTs. In general, this paper highlights the vast possibilities offered by Industry 4.0 technologies to support organizational fire safety management or decrease fire fatalities and improve built environment fire safety. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire Safety and Emergency Evacuation)
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Other

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20 pages, 11308 KiB  
Perspective
CP2DIMG: An Innovative Research Program Aimed at Preparing Firefighters and Police Officers to Manage Emotions and Stress in Operational Contexts
by Frédéric Antoine-Santoni, Jean-Louis Rossi, Claude Devichi, Arielle Syssau, Pauline-Marie Ortoli, Adil Yakhloufi, Sofiane Meradji, Yolhan Mannes, Thierry Marcelli, François-Joseph Chatelon, Lucile Rossi, Jean-Paul Jauffret, Stéphane Chatton and Dominique Grandjean-Kruslin
Fire 2024, 7(6), 188; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7060188 - 31 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1828
Abstract
This paper presents a research program called CP2DIMG conducted at the Federation of Environment and Society Research at the University of Corsica. The goal of CP2DIMG is to better understand the influence of emotions on operational personnel’s decision-making, aiming to test training systems [...] Read more.
This paper presents a research program called CP2DIMG conducted at the Federation of Environment and Society Research at the University of Corsica. The goal of CP2DIMG is to better understand the influence of emotions on operational personnel’s decision-making, aiming to test training systems dedicated to individuals facing high stress during their professional activities. This type of training system is intended to enhance emotional and mental resilience, thereby improving decision-making ability in uncertain situations under the influence of emotions related to the event. For implementation, the method will be tailored to the specificities of two categories of operational personnel: firefighters and municipal police officers. The expected results will address significant demands from operational professionals in the Mediterranean region for firefighting safety but also for large-scale or highly complex interventions. This study fully integrates into the challenges of the Mediterranean region: forest management, risk prevention plans, and preparedness of local actors responsible for crisis management. Furthermore, individuals responsible for crisis management, including local government officials and risk management and security personnel, will be able to use the obtained results for effective decision-making. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fire Safety and Emergency Evacuation)
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