T. J. Shields

• PhD, Msc
• Professor Emeritus at University of Ulster

The quantification of merging flows and the factors that influence evacuee merging behaviour are important considerations in our understanding of emergency evacuation of particularly high-rise buildings, and essential for better escape route design and evacuation modelling. This paper presents the results of three evacuation studies to investigate...

Lead researchers of the three major research studies into the evacuation of and occupant evacuation behaviours in the WTC 9/11 Twin Towers in 2001 presented the results of their extensive investigations at the 4th International Symposium on Human Behaviour in Fire in Cambridge, UK, in 2009. Delegates attending the 4th Symposium were afforded, in a...

The September 11th 2001 impact on the World Trade Centre (WTC) resulted in one of the most significant evacuations of a high-rise building in modern times. The UK High-rise Evacuation Evaluation Database (HEED) study aimed to capture and collate the experiences and behaviours of WTC evacuees in a database, which would facilitate and encourage futur...

The increasing accessibility of buildings to people with disabilities requires that buildings are also designed and managed to provide accessible means of escape for all. In so doing, it is important to understand the capabilities of building occupants with disabilities to evacuate and their interaction with others. This is particularly important i...

Predtechenskii and Milinskii's seminal work [Predtechenskii VM, Milinskii AI. Planning for foot traffic flow in buildings. Revised and updated edition. Moscow: Stoiizdat; 1969] in relation to pedestrian flows is well known. However, analysis of the experimental results and observations obtained from this series of experimental studies revealed the...

This article provides a broad overview of project HEED (High-rise Evacuation Evaluation Database) and the methodologies employed in the collection and storage of first-hand accounts of evacuation experiences derived from tace-to-face interviews of evacuees from the World Trade Center (WTC) Twin Towers complex on September 11, 2001. In particular, t...

human behaviour issues associated with completed and ongoing research into World Trade Centre 9/11 disaster

The results of fifteen experiments in which a double glazing assembly was exposed to enclosure fires of increasing severity are presented. The glazing assembly was exposed to the typical two zone or one zone fire enclosure environment with consistency and repeatability within each set of three experiments conducted at each severity level, evident f...

The behaviour of staff in a fire emergency can have a profound impact on the safety of occupants. This paper presents an analysis of staff behaviour in five unannounced evacuations of Marks and Spencer retail stores. The retail stores participating in the study comprised two three-storey city centre stores and one single storey out-of-town store in...

simulated staff movement insupermarket fire situation

An experimental study investigated the effects of simulated impairment of contrast sensitivity (CS) on performance and eye gaze patterns during locomotion through a library. Normally sighted participants with simulated CS impairment (diffusive blur) walked two routes, one entailing limited change in direction (simple) and the other entailing severa...

distilled content of a structural fire safety engineering workshop

proceedings of a Fire Risk Workshop which was an integral part of the ongoing work of the Fire Safety Engineering Network (FERN)

Book of proceedings contains papers on community fire safety, impact of major fire events, care of vunerab le populations, physical and operational fire safety syatems

a novel approach to staff fire safety training

tunnels present infinitely more complex unfamiliar environments for occupants to escape from fire in an emergency. this needs to be understood by designers and catered for.

Final report of the work of an EPSRC funded network activity which sought to bring coherent organisational focus fire safety engineering research

A final report on the EPSRC funded network activIty on human behaviour

distilled proceedings of workshop with Fire Safety Engineering Network ( FERN) and Fire Chemistry Workshop (FCN)

video analysis of staff behaviours in unannounced evacuations compared with real evacuation staff behaviours

neural- behavioural outcomes and incidence of trauma following exposure to domestic fires

a different perspective on modeling pedestrian and evacuation flows

The Institute of Fire Safety Engineering Research and Technology Centre (FireSERT) at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland has been a major provider of higher technical fire safety education, fire related research and services to industry for over 20 years. Its internationally recognised research spans the fields of fire dynamics, structura...

Surface burning areas of plywood lining installed at walls and ceiling of a modified ISO room enclosure were estimated using surface temperatures measured in the full-scale enclosure fire tests. Based on the surface burning areas, the development of surface flame spread at the lining surface has been assessed experimentally. The correlation of the...

An experimental study of liquid pool fires was undertaken in the corner and centre fire geometries. An Industrial Methylated Spirits fuel placed in square trays and elevated from the floor was used in the study. The fuel trays ranged in size from a 0.2m tray which was used in a 1/3 scale test enclosure to 0.5-1.0m trays used in an ISO sized room. M...

Some Selected Works of Jim Shields pp 1 - 570

The result of 14 experiments in which a single glazing assembly was exposed to fires of increasing severity in the centre of an enclosure are presented. The glazing assembly was exposed to a two zone fire enclosure environment with consistency and repeatability within each set of three experiments conducted at each fire severity level evident from...

understanding occupant evacuation behaviours in large retail premises

The results of 19 experiments in which a single pane glazing assembly was exposed to enclosure corner fires of increasing severity are presented. The glazing assembly was exposed to a two zone fire enclosure environment, with consistency and repeatability within each set of three experiments conducted at each fire severity level, evident from the e...

selected papers on topical issues

Human behaviour theory, evacuation modelling and functionality, occupancy characterisation, occupamt response, toxicity and smoke effects, non - engineering solutions for reducing the incidence and impact of fire, visual accessibility and spatial analysis, human performance criteria for inclusion in regulation and codes.

Using the notion of a local fire severity parameter (LFS) which is a function of the energy available per square metre to inflict damage on the surface of a constructional component, a correlation relating local fire severity and char depth for wooden samples exposed to a furnace environment and a constant incident 50 kW/m2 flux has been developed....

A detailed study of the behavior of plywood wall lining was conducted in an ISO room enclosure fire. In addition to its contribution to fire growth, observations included ignition behavior, surface flame spread, and charring of the lining. For the corner fire scenario conducted in this study the linings responded differently in three distinctly dif...

towards understanding differences in evacuation behaviours in different types of large retail stores in the UK

A set of pragmatic experimental investigations were initially undertaken using three straight flues attached to glass doored solid fuel appliances. Each system was built to satisfy existing regulatory requirements and instrumented with type K thermocouples at fixed locations within each flue. The fire gas temperatures were analysed for periods of s...

Using the notion of a local fire severity parameter (LFS) which is a function of the energy available per square metre to inflict damage on the surface of a constructional component, a correlation relating local fire severity and char depth for wooden samples exposed to a furnace environment and a constant incident 50 kW/m² flux has been developed....

The basic equation describing steady surface flame spread on solid surfaces indicates that the primary characteristics describing surface flame spread are flame heat flux, forward heating length scale and a thermally affected depth of solid material. There is however great variability in the reported estimations of the average flame heat flux incid...

Because of the lack of valid information regarding the influence of bends on the thermal and hydraulic performance of flues, a series of preliminary experiments were conducted using a full-scale Perspex rig. Analysis of the results and observations enabled the development of a methodology capable of determining the reduction of flow rate arising fr...

the paper addresses the issue of exposure to carbon monoxide in fires particularly fire fighters

This paper presents the results obtained from unannounced evacuations of four Marks and Spencer retail stores. By unannounced it is meant that the public and staff had no prior knowledge of the evacuations and were not informed during the evacuations by voice communication systems. The four retail stores participating in the study were chosen to re...

Carbon monoxide (CO) is the dominant gas in fire smoke toxic ity. In many cases, according to Babrauskas [1], carbon monoxide, carbon diox ide and the depletion of oxygen are the only toxic agents of consequence. The problems of CO have been studied [2] at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the views of Babrauskas would be...

Surface burning areas of medium density fiberboard lining installed at walls and ceiling of the ISO room enclosure were estimated using surface temperatures measured in the full-scale enclosure fire tests. Based on the surface burning areas, the development of surface flame spread at the lining surface has been assessed experimentally. The resultan...

fire load distribution data

methodologies employed and results obtained in an unannounced evacuation of customers and staff from a multi storey city centre retail store

The development of human behaviour in fire into an area of scholarly study of vital importance has been extremely rapid. The advent of performance based fire safety regulations and codes together with the needs for robust computer evacuation simulation models gives further impetus and sense of purpose for future endeavours. Hard fire science alone...

The modelling of the unannounced evacuation of two Marks & Spencer stores conducted by the University of Ulster with the public in the stores using the evacuation simulation model SIMULEX is presented. The occupant behaviour data and information was recorded in each evacuation by means of strategically positioned cameras which recorded the entire e...

This paper presents the results obtained from an unannounced evacuation of a single storey, Marks & Spencer store. The purpose of the work was to obtain insights with respect to the actual emergency evacuation performance of the store in relation to perceived performance as represented in BSI DD240 Fire Safety Engineering in Buildings Part 1, Guide...

Key papers presented at the First International Symposium on Human Behaviour in Fire at FireSERT University of Ulster 1999

Facilities to cater for the needs of people with learning difficulties are provided in a range of accommodation which includes new build and adapted buildings. Issues related to the life safety of building occupants with learning difficulties, particularly where there are sleeping risks, have not been given sufficient prominence. To assist faciliti...

Developments in recent years in safety legislation have shifted the burden of responsibility for safety to the owners and managers of facilities. This shift has occurred following a period in which increased accessibility to buildings and facilities for disabled people has been provided, and these to an increasing extent are being used by disabled...

glass breakage in fires compared with model predictions

an experimental investigation into the behaviour of wall and ceiling linings in enclosure fires

This paper reports the results of unannounced evacuation of two residential care premises providing accommodation for people with learning disabilities. Awareness of disability has in relation to fire safety focussed generally on mobility. With the advent of performance-based fire safety engineering codes which require the characterization of build...

This paper is the third in a series of four that collectively provide a substantial body of knowledge on the egress capabilities of people with disabilities. It presents the results of an experimental program to determine the ability of disabled people to negotiate doors with closing forces that range from 20 N to 70 N. The results indicate that ma...

This paper is the first in a series of four that collectively provide a substantial body of knowledge on the egress capabilities of disabled people who frequent public-assembly buildings. Here, the results are given of an analysis of survey data estimating the numbers and types of disabled people who are mobile beyond their own homes, the degree of...

This paper is the second in a series of four that collectively provide a substantial body of knowledge on the egress capabilities of disabled people. Here, the results are given from an experimental program designed to determine the capabilities of disabled people to move on horizontal and inclined planes, broken down by presence or absence of a lo...

This paper is the fourth and last in a series of papers that collectively provide a substantial body of knowledge on the egress capabilities of people with disabilities. It presents the results of an experimental program designed to determine the ability of disabled people to locate and read three types of code-compliant exit signs: non-illuminated...

Full-scale fire experiments were carried out in an ISO room to study the behaviour of commonly used cellulosic lining materials in real fire conditions. In addition to the temperature measurements recommended by the ISO 9705, temperature recordings were made at each node of grid lines on the wall lining surfaces. Four lining materials were chosen t...

Fire safety literature with respect to human behavior in fire is peppered with reference to the use of the familiar exit to such an extent that a theory of the familiar has crept unchallenged into common usage. The notion of familiarity has never been sufficiently articulated in the context of fire safety. It appears to be a convenient way to descr...

Uncontrolled fires cause much loss of human life and property damage every year. Fire in simple terms is the consequence of complex chemical and physical reactions induced by heating materials to their respective ignition temperatures. The growth and development of a fire can be represented by a number of stages or states, i.e. ignition, fire growt...

A detailed study of the behavior of plywood wall lining was conducted in an ISO room enclosure fire. In addition to its contribution to fire growth, observations included ignition behavior, surface flame spread, and charring of the lining. For the corner fire scenario conducted in this study the linings responded differently in three distinctly dif...

book of proceedings of the first international symposium on human behaviour in fire organised and hosted by the Fire Safety Engineering Research and Technology Center (FireSERT) University of Ulster

A reduced scale ignition and flame spread technique, RIFT, was implemented in the cone calorimeter system to obtain thermocombustibility properties of enclosure lining materials during flame spread over the sample surface. Previously, a thermal model of ignition and opposed flow flame spread was used to analyze flame spread data obtained using RIFT...

A reduced scale ignition and flame spread technique (RIFT) was implemented in the cone calorimeter test system to generate thermal and combustibility material response parameters normally associated with an intermediate scale test, LIFT. The magnitude of the parameters derived using RIFT compare favorably with those obtained using the standard LIFT...

Results undertaken on behalf of BRE for the evelopment of the Crisp model

towards a better understanding of the behaviours of wall and ceiling linings in enclosure fires

actual behaviour of double glazing in a large scale office block enclosure fire

Previous work in relation to the behavior of glazing exposed to real fire conditions has largely focused on single panes of glass. This article introduces work which focuses on the behaviors of ordinary double glazed units exposed to real fire conditions, with respect to the location of the fire, position of the glazing, and the influence of the de...

Methodologies employed and results obtained in an unannounced evacuation

Methodologies employed and results obtained from an unannounced evacuation of Marks and Spencer's Multi Storey City Centre Storen Cardiff

review and analysis of available information regarding the benifits and cost of requiring the installation of sprinklers in residential properties in the U.K.

In order to advance work in progress at the University of Ulster [1] on the behavior of glazing systems during real fires in enclosures, an experimental research program was undertaken to study the behaviors of single and double pane window glazing systems. This article discusses the results obtained in experiments using single glazing with respect...