Search Results (975)

Almost one in three firefighters develop mental health disorders at some point during their careers, a rate double that in the general population. Frequent exposures to potentially traumatic situations can contribute to symptoms of these disorders, two of the most common being depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While various psychological interventions have been implemented among this group, reports of their effectiveness include mixed results. To this end, the current study endeavored to test the effectiveness of a 12-week intervention combining occupationally-tailored high-intensity functional training (HIFT) and psychological resilience training (RES) in reducing depressive and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs), as well as increasing psychological resilience and mental wellbeing, in career firefighters. Thirty career firefighters completed four mental health measurements over 17 weeks while anthropometrics and physical performance (i.e., number of stations completed in 20 min during an eight-station simulated job-task circuit workout [T-CAC]) were measured pre- and post-intervention. Pre to post comparisons were made via repeated-measures t-tests. Significant mean differences were observed for T-CAC stations completed, PTSSs, and psychological resilience between pre- and post-intervention. In future interventions, researchers should actively engage firefighters, maximize integration with daily operations, and employ culturally-relevant practices to explore the links between physical and mental health. Full article

Climate change represents one of the main challenges of this century. The hazards generated by this process are various and involve territorial assets all over the globe. Hydrogeological risk represents one of these aspects, and the violence of rain precipitations has led experts to focus their interest on the study of geotechnical assets in relation to these dangerous weather events. At the same time, geospatial representation in 3D WebGIS based on open-source solutions led specialists to employ this kind of technology to remotely analyze and monitor territorial events considering different sources of information. This study considers the construction of a 3D WebGIS framework for the real-time management of geospatial information developed with open-source technologies applied to the dynamic mapping of precipitation in the metropolitan area of Palermo (Italy) based on real-time weather station acquisitions. The structure considered is a WebGIS platform developed with Cesium.js JavaScript libraries, the Postgres database, Geoserver and Mapserver geospatial servers, and the Anaconda Python platform for activating real-time data connections using Python scripts. This framework represents a basic geospatial digital twin structure useful to municipalities, civil protection services, and firefighters for land management and for activating any preventive operations to ensure territorial safety. Furthermore, the open-source nature of the platform favors the free diffusion of this solution, avoiding expensive applications based on property software. The components of the framework are available and shared using GitHub. Full article

This study assessed the effectiveness of stress-based cognitive-behavioral training compared to standard training in firefighters, emphasizing their ability to distribute extinguishing water and cool environments evenly during enclosure fires. Experiments took place at the Zbiroh training facility with two firefighter teams (Team A with stress-based training and Team B with standard training) under realistic conditions. Using 58 thermocouples and 4 radiometers, temperature distribution and radiant heat flux were measured to evaluate water distribution efficiency and cooling performance during interventions. Team A consistently achieved temperature reductions of approximately 320 °C in the upper layers and 250–400 °C in the middle layers, maintaining stable conditions, whereas Team B only achieved partial cooling, with upper-layer temperatures remaining at 750–800 °C. Additionally, Team A recorded lower radiant heat flux densities (e.g., 20.74 kW/m² at 0°) compared to Team B (21.81 kW/m²), indicating more effective water application and adaptability. The findings confirm that stress-based training enhances firefighters’ operational readiness and their ability to distribute water effectively during interventions. This skill is essential for safer and effective management of indoor fires under extreme conditions. This study supports the inclusion of stress-based and scenario-based training in firefighter education to enhance safety and operational performance. Full article

In 1961, Los Angeles experienced the disastrous Bel Air fire, which swept through an affluent neighborhood situated in a hilly, WUI (wildland–urban interface) location. In January 2025, the city was devastated again by a nearly-simultaneous series of wildfires, the most severe of which took place close to the 1961 fire location. Disastrous WUI fires are, unfortunately, an anticipatable occurrence in many U.S. cities. A number of issues identified earlier remained the same. Some were largely solved, while other new ones have emerged. The paper examines the Palisades Fire of January, 2025 in this context. In the intervening decades, the population of the city grew substantially. But firefighting resources did not keep pace. Very likely, the single-most-important factor in causing the 2025 disasters is that the Los Angeles Fire Department operational vehicle count shrank to 1/5 of what it was in 1961 (per capita). This is likely why critical delays were experienced in the initial attack on the Palisades Fire, leading to a runaway conflagration. Two other crucial issues were the management of vegetation and the adequacy of water supplies. On both these issues, the Palisades Fire revealed serious problems. A problem which arose after 1961 involves the unintended consequences of environmental legislation. Communities will continue to be devastated by wildfires unless adequate vegetation management is accomplished. Yet, environmental regulations are focused on maintaining the status quo, often making vegetation management difficult or ineffective. House survival during a wildfire is strongly affected by whether good vegetation management practices and good building practices (“ignition-resistant” construction features) have been implemented. The latter have not been mandatory for housing built prior to 2008, and the vast majority of houses in the area predated such building code requirements. California has also suffered from a highly counterproductive stance on insurance regulation. This has resulted in some residents not having property insurance, due to the inhospitable operating conditions for insurance firms in the state. Because of the historical precedent, the details in this paper focus on the Palisades Fire; however, many of the lessons learned apply to managing fires in all WUI areas. Policy recommendations are offered, which could help to reduce the potential for future conflagrations. Full article

The emergence of electric vehicles (EVs) has brought specific risks, including the possibility of fires or explosions resulting from mechanical, thermal, or electrical failures, which can lead to thermal runaway (TR). There is a great lack of knowledge about how to act safely in this type of fire. This study carried out two full-scale fire experiments on electric vehicles to investigate response strategies to electric vehicle fires caused by thermal runaway. Centro Zaragoza provided technical advice for these tests, so that they could be carried out safely, controlling the risks. This advice has allowed Centro Zaragoza to analyze different response strategies to the fires in electric vehicles caused by thermal runaway. On the other hand, the propagation patterns of thermal runaway fires in electric vehicles were investigated. The early-phase effectiveness of fire blankets and other extinguishing measures was tested, and the temperature distributions inside the vehicle and the type of fire generated were measured. The results showed that fire blankets successfully extinguished flames by cutting off the oxygen supply. These findings contribute to the development of effective strategies for responding to electric vehicle fires, enabling the establishment of good practice for fire suppression in electric vehicles and their batteries. Full article

Swarm robots often need to cover the designated area to complete specific tasks. While robots possess local perception and limited communication capabilities, they struggle to handle coverage issues in dynamic environments. This paper proposes a self-organizing algorithm for swarm robots based on Dynamic Virtual Force (DVF) to cover dynamic areas. Robots in the swarm can locally perceive their surrounding robots and dynamically select adjacent ones to generate virtual repulsion, thereby controlling their movement. The algorithm enables swarm robots to be rapidly and evenly deployed in unknown areas, adapt to dynamic area changes, and solve the problem of symmetrical robot distribution during coverage. It also allows for adaptive coverage of different density areas, divided as needed. Experimental validation across 20 benchmark scenarios (including obstacles, dynamic boundaries, and multi-density zones) demonstrates that the DVF method outperforms existing approaches in coverage rate, total robot movement distance, and coverage uniformity. The results validate its effectiveness and superiority in addressing area coverage problems. By addressing these challenges, the DVF algorithm can be widely applied to forest firefighting, oil spill cleanup in the ocean, and other swarm robot tasks. Full article

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are emerging pollutants of global concern due to their high environmental persistence and bioaccumulative characteristics. This study investigates PFAS concentrations in soils from China through an extensive literature review, covering soil samples from seventeen provinces and the years from 2009 to 2024. It was found that the total concentration of PFAS in soil ranged from 0.25 to 6240 ng/g, with the highest contamination levels observed in coastal provinces, particularly Fujian (620 ng/g) and Guangdong (1090 ng/g). Moreover, Fujian Province ranked the highest among multiple regions with a median PFAS concentration of 15.7 ng/g for individual compounds. Ecological risk assessment, focusing on areas where perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) or perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were identified as the primary soil PFAS compounds, showed moderate ecological risk from PFOA in Shanghai (0.24), while PFOS posed a high ecological risk in Fujian and Guangdong, with risk values of 43.3 and 1.4, respectively. Source analysis revealed that anthropogenic activities, including PFAS production, firefighting foam usage, and landfills, were the primary contributors to soil contamination. Moreover, soil PFASs tend to migrate into groundwater via adsorption and seepage, ultimately entering the human body through bioaccumulation or drinking water, posing health risks. These findings enhance our understanding of PFAS distribution and associated risks in Chinese soils, providing crucial insights for pollution management, source identification, and regulation strategies in diverse areas. Full article

Emergency preparedness training in organizations frequently involves simple evacuation drills triggered by fire alarms, limiting the opportunities for broader skill development. Digital technologies, particularly virtual reality (VR), offer promising methods to enhance learning for handling incidents and evacuations. However, implementing VR-based training remains challenging due to unclear integration strategies within organizational practices and a lack of empirical evidence of VR’s effectiveness. This paper explores how VR-based training tools can be implemented in schools to enhance emergency preparedness among students, teachers, and staff. Following a design science research process, data were collected from a questionnaire-based study involving 12 participants and an exploratory study with 13 participants. The questionnaire-based study investigates initial attitudes and willingness to adopt VR training, while the exploratory study assesses the VR prototype’s usability, realism, and perceived effectiveness for emergency preparedness training. Despite a limited sample size and technical constraints of the early prototype, findings indicate strong student enthusiasm for gamified and immersive learning experiences. Teachers emphasized the need for technical and instructional support to regularly utilize VR training modules, while firefighters acknowledged the potential of VR tools, but also highlighted the critical importance of regular drills and professional validation. The relevance of the results of utilizing VR in this context is further discussed in terms of how it can be integrated into university curricula and aligned with other accessible digital preparedness tools. Full article

In this paper, a hybrid flying robot that utilizes water thrust and aerial propeller actuation is proposed and analyzed, with the aim of applications in hazardous tasks in the marine field, such as firefighting, ship inspections, and search and rescue missions. For such tasks, existing solutions like drones and water-powered robots inherited fundamental limitations, making their use ineffective. For instance, drones are constrained by limited flight endurance, while water-powered robots struggle with horizontal motion due to the couplings between translational motions. The proposed hydro-aerodynamic hybrid actuation in this study addresses these significant drawbacks by utilizing water thrust for sustainable vertical propulsion and propeller-based actuation for more controllable horizontal motion. The characteristics and mathematical models of the proposed flying robots are presented in detail. A state feedback controller and a proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller are designed and implemented in order to govern the proposed robot’s motion. In particular, a linear matrix inequality approach is also proposed for the former design so that a robust performance is ensured. Simulation studies are conducted where a purely water-powered flying robot using a nozzle rotation mechanism is deployed for comparison, to evaluate and validate the feasibility of the flying robot. Results demonstrate that the proposed system exhibits superior performance in terms of stability and tracking, even in the presence of external disturbances. Full article

The rheological behavior of firefighting foam is the basis for analyzing foam flow and foam spreading. This experimental study investigates the complex rheological behavior of rapidly aging firefighting foams, specifically focusing on alcohol-resistant aqueous film-forming foam. The primary objective is to characterize the time-dependent viscoelasticity, yielding, and viscous flow of firefighting foam under controlled shear conditions, addressing the significant challenge posed by its rapid structural evolution (drainage and coarsening) during measurement. Using a cylindrical Couette rheometer, conductivity measurements for the liquid fraction, and microscopy for the bubble size analysis, the study quantifies how foam aging impacts key rheological parameters. The results show that the creep and relaxation response of the firefighting foam in the linear viscoelastic region conforms to the Burgers model. The firefighting foam shows ductile yielding and significant shear thinning, and its flow curve under slow shear can be well represented by the Herschel–Bulkley model. Foam drainage and coarsening have competitive effects on the rheology of the firefighting foam, which results in monotonic and nonmonotonic variations in the rheological response in the linear and nonlinear viscoelastic regions, respectively. The work reveals that established empirical relationships between rheology, liquid fraction, and bubble size for general aqueous foams are inadequate for firefighting foams, highlighting the need for foam-specific constitutive models. Full article

Ensuring proper sizing and fit for U.S. female firefighters’ personal protective clothing and equipment (PPE) is a crucial challenge for researchers and manufacturers. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) establishes design and performance standards in the U.S., with NFPA 1977 specifying sizing guidelines for wildland firefighting gear. However, the absence of an anthropometric database representing female firefighters limits the effectiveness of these standards. This research evaluates the effectiveness of NFPA 1977 sizing system by investigating whether correlated body measurements maintain internal consistency and provide data-driven recommendations for improvement. Anthropometric data from 187 U.S. female firefighters were analyzed to assess the 2016 and 2022 NFPA 1977 upper and lower torso sizing systems. Correlation analysis was performed between body measurements and corresponding sizes. Contingency tables presented proportion of participants accommodated. Results indicated significant correlations between chest and wrist measurements and sizes in the upper torso, though these were the only available measurements. In the lower torso, hip size strongly correlated with thigh and knee sizes. However, the system inadequately accommodates female firefighters with larger waist and hip measurements. Furthermore, rise sizes demonstrated inconsistent, weak relationships with hip circumference. Overall, the NFPA 1977 sizing requires revision to better serve U.S. female firefighters. Full article

Firefighting is a physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding occupation. These demands are exacerbated by an increase in workload, resulting in an increase in stress and a decrease in recovery. While researchers have examined the influence of workload on stress perceptions, little is known about firefighter perceptions of recovery generally, and no research investigating perceptions of holistic recovery (i.e., physical, mental, and emotional) exists. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between acute workload (i.e., call volume) and firefighter perceptions of stress and recovery from pre-shift to post-shift. Sixteen active-duty firefighters completed the Short Recovery and Stress Scale pre- and post-shift and reported call volume after every shift (N = 156 total shifts). Repeated measures correlations were used to examine the common intraindividual associations between pre- to post-shift perceptions of recovery and stress and call volume. Results indicated that as call volume increased, firefighters perceived themselves to be significantly less recovered overall [r_rm (139) = −0.22, p < 0.001], physically [r_rm (139) = −0.31, p < 0.001], mentally [r_rm (139) = −0.26, p < 0.001], and emotionally [r_rm (139) = −0.27, p < 0.005] and significantly more stressed overall [r_rm (139) = 0.28, p < 0.001], mentally [r_rm (139) = 0.25, p < 0.005], and emotionally [r_rm (139) = 0.21, p = 0.012] post-shift compared to pre-shift. These findings suggest that to optimize firefighter health and well-being, practitioners should monitor call volume and implement appropriate physical, mental, and/or emotional recovery interventions. Full article

Applicable recommendations play a key role in improving training and procedures used in civil protection. Since 1 January 2025, the Law on Civil Protection and Civil Defense has been in force in Poland. It responds to the experience of current threats, including the war in Ukraine, the 2024 floods in Western Poland, the COVID-19 pandemic, and other crises. The Act systemically regulates the problem of building social resilience, which must be developed and applied regarding today’s modern threats. The primary actor in civil protection is the fire brigade system, in which volunteer firefighters are recruited from local communities and act for their benefit. In this context, it is interesting to ask whether and what solutions should be applied in order to improve the effectiveness of the training and exercise system of volunteer fire brigades (TSOs) in the field of civil protection and crisis management. The aim of this investigation was to develop evaluations and applicable recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the training system for volunteer firefighters based on a survey of volunteer firefighters in the Cracow Poviat. Two survey diagnostic techniques were used: expert interviews and questionnaire research. The findings were compared with the results of an analysis of source documents obtained in TSO units. The expert interviews covered all chief fire officers of the municipalities in the Cracow Poviat. The paper begins with an introduction and a systematic literature review. The conclusions consist of the proposal of applicable changes in the scope of basic, specialist, and additional training. Areas of missing training are also identified. The firefighters’ knowledge of crisis management procedures is verified, deficiencies are identified, and applicable changes in the organization of field exercises are proposed. Full article

Wildfires often spread rapidly and cause significant casualties and economic losses. Firefighting drones carrying water capsules provide an efficient way for wildfire extinguishing, but their operational capabilities are limited by their payloads. This weakness can be compensated by using ground vehicles to provide mobile water supply. To this end, this paper presents an optimization problem of scheduling multiple drones and water supply trucks for wildfire fighting, which allocates burning subareas to drones, routes drones to perform fire-extinguishing operations in burning subareas and reload water between every two consecutive operations, and routes trucks to provide timely water supply for drones. To solve the problem within the limited emergency response time, we propose a deep reinforcement learning method, which consists of an encoder for embedding the input instance features and a decoder for generating a solution by iteratively predicting the subarea selection decision through attention. Computational results on test instances constructed upon real-world wilderness areas demonstrate the performance advantages of the proposed method over a collection of heuristic and metaheuristic optimization methods. Full article

Drinking Water Safety Plans (DWSP) in buildings serve to identify health hazards associated with the drinking water system. Sanitation Safety Plans (SSP) fulfill the same purpose for the sewage system. Water Safety Plans (WSP) include DWSPs, SSPs, and water systems like gray water and firefighting water. WSPs are based on a high-quality description of the water systems. This paper presents a new methodology for describing water systems. In contrast to previous approaches, the system description begins at the point where the water is consumed. These points of use are described using ecomaps, which are then supplemented with information about the pipe network. This approach makes it possible to fulfill four relevant premises: (1) the system description includes all essential parts of the drinking water installation, (2) the system description is possible with usual equipment, (3) the system description can be carried out with the least possible additional personnel costs, and (4) the system description is controllable, versionable, changeable, and forgery-proof. The ecomaps created in this way are suitable for the next step within the WSP framework, namely hazard and risk assessment. In addition, the ecomaps can be integrated into a quality, occupational safety, or environmental management system. Aspects of water security can be added to enable the ecomaps to be used as the basis for a total integrated water management system. Full article