Fire evacuation modeling

Ensuring the safety of occupants is one of the key objectives in the event of fire or emergency evacuation. Thus, in any fire safety engineering study, and more generally in the safety assessment of a built structure or transport system, the evacuation of people to a safe refuge sheltered from fire effluents must be ensured in the shortest possible time.

Modeling tools have been developed to calculate the time required for evacuation. The main difficulty faced by the developers of these tools is equating the behavior of individuals. Initially analytical, these models have become increasingly complex, incorporating elements of human behavior. Numerous approaches have been integrated to deal with movement and social behavior.

Several levels of analysis are possible ("macroscopic", i.e. global, or "microscopic", focusing on each individual). Multi-agent models have been developed to deal with the behavior of populations with varied properties, enabling probabilistic analysis of a large number of evacuation situations. Numerical evacuation models are also beginning to be coupled with smoke transport tools, incorporating the variability of individual characteristics.

This in-depth analysis of evacuation is gradually being introduced into building and transport regulations, in particular through the opening up of fire safety engineering. The aim is to design more effective structures for public safety, and to optimize the flow of people in the event of evacuation.