![Distribution of fires across categories of the state of the fire at arrival of the first fire appliance [n=27455].](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Neil-Challands/publication/226273683/figure/fig1/AS:393707359621130@1470878557620/Distribution-of-fires-across-categories-of-the-state-of-the-fire-at-arrival-of-the-first_Q320.jpg)
![Box plot of the area of damage resulting from the fire for each reported state on arrival of the first fire appliance. The heavy line is the median, the box shows the range which encloses 50% of the values and the whiskers show the 90% range [n=27455].](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Neil-Challands/publication/226273683/figure/fig2/AS:393707359621131@1470878557667/Box-plot-of-the-area-of-damage-resulting-from-the-fire-for-each-reported-state-on-arrival_Q320.jpg)
![The proportion of building fires in each response time category which are described as either a large or fully involved fire at the time of arrival of the first fire appliance [n=27455]](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Neil-Challands/publication/226273683/figure/fig3/AS:393707359621132@1470878557718/The-proportion-of-building-fires-in-each-response-time-category-which-are-described-as_Q320.jpg)
![The proportion of fires in each minute category which are large at the time of arrival showing the twice standard error bands and the density function for all responses to fire. The vertical scale is the same for both series. For the density function it is the percentage of the population [n=26384].](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Neil-Challands/publication/226273683/figure/fig4/AS:393707359621133@1470878557747/The-proportion-of-fires-in-each-minute-category-which-are-large-at-the-time-of-arrival_Q320.jpg)
![The nominal average value ($NZ ) of damage to the structure per fire for each minute of fire service response [n=26384]](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Neil-Challands/publication/226273683/figure/fig5/AS:393707359621134@1470878557803/The-nominal-average-value-NZ-of-damage-to-the-structure-per-fire-for-each-minute-of_Q320.jpg)
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The Relationships Between Fire Service Response Time and Fire Outcomes
Abstract and Figures
Fire service response to fire is premised on the assumption that the earlier the fire is attacked the smaller will be the
consequences to people and property. A simple method is shown for measuring the influence fire service response has on building
fire development. The results for New Zealand are shown. The method is then extended to determining a nominal monetary benefit
from rapid response and benefits in terms of other desired outcomes. The method allows the benefits of monitored fire alarms
and sprinklers to be quantified. Finally the method is extended to determining the impact on fire service response of calls
from cellular phones versus standard landlines. In the New Zealand circumstances the use of cellular phones does not appear
on average to provide a speedier alert to the fire service and generally involves a marginally slower response owing to delays
in locating incidents. This results in a measurably greater monetary loss.
KeywordsEconomic value of rapid response-Fire condition on arrival-Monetary loss to fire
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... Regional and local studies have revealed that fire risks vary significantly across communities, with inequalities linked to community characteristics [29][30][31][32] . Simultaneously, previously overlooked building-level factors (e.g., ignition sources) are increasingly recognized for their considerable impact on fire outcomes [33][34][35] . However, existing research on fire risk analysis often focuses on isolated factors or localized contexts, underestimating the complex interplay between community-level vulnerabilities and incident-specific factors. ...
Building fires pose a persistent threat to life, property, and infrastructure, emphasizing the need for advanced risk mitigation strategies. This study presents a data-driven framework analyzing U.S. fire risks by integrating over one million fire incident reports with diverse fire-relevant datasets, including social determinants, building inventories, weather conditions, and incident-specific factors. By adapting machine learning models, we identify key risk factors influencing fire occurrence and consequences. Our findings show that vulnerable communities, characterized by socioeconomic disparities or the prevalence of outdated or vacant buildings, face higher fire risks. Incident-specific factors, such as fire origins and safety features, strongly influence fire consequences. Buildings equipped with fire detectors and automatic extinguishing systems experience significantly lower fire spread and injury risks. By pinpointing high-risk areas and populations, this research supports targeted interventions, including mandating fire safety systems and providing subsidies for disadvantaged communities. These measures can enhance fire prevention, protect vulnerable groups, and promote safer, more equitable communities.
... Future work will focus on incorporating more realistic features, expanding scalability to address higher-dimensional uncertainties, and bridging the sim-to-real gap for practical deployment. Research has established that reducing the travel time of emergency vehicles (EMVs)-a critical component of overall emergency response time (ERT)-can significantly improve outcomes for urgent incidents, including emergency medical services (EMS) [161,162], fires [163,164], and police activities [165]. However, as New York City continues to undergo rapid urbanization, the growing congestion on its roadways has exacerbated this challenge. ...
Emergency Response Time (ERT) is crucial for urban safety, measuring cities' ability to handle medical, fire, and crime emergencies. In NYC, medical ERT increased 72% from 7.89 minutes in 2014 to 14.27 minutes in 2024, with half of delays due to Emergency Vehicle (EMV) travel times. Each minute's delay in stroke response costs 2 million brain cells, while cardiac arrest survival drops 7-10% per minute. This dissertation advances EMV facilitation through three contributions. First, EMVLight, a decentralized multi-agent reinforcement learning framework, integrates EMV routing with traffic signal pre-emption. It achieved 42.6% faster EMV travel times and 23.5% improvement for other vehicles. Second, the Dynamic Queue-Jump Lane system uses Multi-Agent Proximal Policy Optimization for coordinated lane-clearing in mixed autonomous and human-driven traffic, reducing EMV travel times by 40%. Third, an equity study of NYC Emergency Medical Services revealed disparities across boroughs: Staten Island faces delays due to sparse signalized intersections, while Manhattan struggles with congestion. Solutions include optimized EMS stations and improved intersection designs. These contributions enhance EMV mobility and emergency service equity, offering insights for policymakers and urban planners to develop safer, more efficient transportation systems.
... Further, this challenge has affected the response time (Total response time is the minutes and seconds elapsed from the time of call to the arrival of the first appliance to the incident) to emergencies and accidents in the urban areas have been affected especially fires and other emergencies that require quick responders (NFPA 1710), as the response time to fires has a direct correlation to the amount or magnitude of the incidents to the properties and risk to life (Challands, N, 2014). The quicker the responders arrive at the scene, the less the damage to properties, though there is no clear correlation between number of injuries and fatalities to response time in the reported incidents at Dar es Salaam. ...
This study evaluated major cities’ compliance and awareness to the disaster management and emergency response legislations and strategies in Tanzania with a focus on Dar es salaam city that have experienced persistent undesirable disasters and emergencies that arise from both natural and manmade. The study also focused at actions and programs embarked by the Dar es Salaam City Governments (Ilala, Temeke, Ubungo and Kinondoni) to implement the established disaster and emergency response legislations and strategies in dealing with the challenges identified and their way forward. The outcome of this research was contemplated to significantly assist individuals, community, the local government and other interested parties in dealing with disasters and emergencies, and enhance understanding and compliance and awareness to the disaster management and emergency response legislations and strategies urban and rural dwellers with disaster-resilient. This study deployed descriptive research design and survey to gather information about the research problem under the study. The survey provided quantitative account of views of sampled population and their attitudes, and provided chance to test correlation among population variables of the population samples in which 105 respondents were conveniently selected for this study. The study found that the majority of the population are aware the about the disasters that are likely to occur in their localities and their associated impacts both health and economic impacts, but however they are not satisfied with the strategies implemented by the government to deal with them. The study revealed that, the public officials responsible for emergency response and disaster management in Dar es Salaam are aware about the legislations and plans in dealing with disasters and emergency response but the compliance to them are below average due to various factors like resources constraints, insufficient personnel, low involvement of community, insufficient institutional coordination between emergency responders, insufficient infrastructures that affect response time to emergencies, inadequate urban land use planning and strategies and political influenced decision making. The study proposed that the government have to review and follow up implementation of developed urban land use plans base on disaster risk assessment and management reports, to intensify and provide public awareness campaigns on disaster risk management and emergency response strategies, capacity building to government officials and emergency responders on new urban development technologies and enhance their knowledge and competencies, and to review and establish a coordinated emergency response plans in major cities and establishment of early warning systems with coordinated communication systems among responders.
... The reports for urban planning and strategies indicate progress in land use planning, but the institutional and structural capacity constraint and a insufficient of statistics, current urban strategies and plans are often out of date, institutional tasks are unclear, compliance and enforcement is weak, and progress in establishing and implementation of new strategies and plans are slow compared to the situational demands. Further, this challenge has affected the response time (Total response time is the minutes and seconds elapsed from the time of call to the arrival of the first appliance to the incident) to emergencies and accidents in the urban areas have been affected especially fires and other emergencies that require quick responders (NFPA 1710), as the response time to fires has a direct correlation to the amount or magnitude of the incidents to the properties and risk to life (Challands, N, 2014). The quicker the responders arrive at the scene, the less the damage to properties, though there is no clear correlation between number of injuries and fatalities to response time in the reported incidents at Dar es Salaam. ...
This study evaluated major cities’ compliance and awareness to the disaster management and emergency response legislations and strategies in Tanzania with a focus on Dar es salaam city that have experienced persistent undesirable disasters and emergencies that arise from both natural and manmade. The study also focused at actions and programs embarked by the Dar es Salaam City Governments (Ilala, Temeke, Ubungo and Kinondoni) to implement the established disaster and emergency response legislations and strategies in dealing with the challenges identified and their way forward. The outcome of this research was contemplated to significantly assist individuals, community, the local government and other interested parties in dealing with disasters and emergencies, and enhance understanding and compliance and awareness to the disaster management and emergency response legislations and strategies urban and rural dwellers with disaster-resilient. This study deployed descriptive research design and survey to gather information about the research problem under the study. The survey provided quantitative account of views of sampled population and their attitudes, and provided chance to test correlation among population variables of the population samples in which 105 respondents were conveniently selected for this study. The study found that the majority of the population are aware the about the disasters that are likely to occur in their localities and their associated impacts both health and economic impacts, but however they are not satisfied with the strategies implemented by the government to deal with them. The study revealed that, the public officials responsible for emergency response and disaster management in Dar es Salaam are aware about the legislations and plans in dealing with disasters and emergency response but the compliance to them are below average due to various factors like resources constraints, insufficient personnel, low involvement of community, insufficient institutional coordination between emergency responders, insufficient infrastructures that affect response time to emergencies, inadequate urban land use planning and strategies and political influenced decision making. The study proposed that the government have to review and follow up implementation of developed urban land use plans base on disaster risk assessment and management reports, to intensify and provide public awareness campaigns on disaster risk management and emergency response strategies, capacity building to government officials and emergency responders on new urban development technologies and enhance their knowledge and competencies, and to review and establish a coordinated emergency response plans in major cities and establishment of early warning systems with coordinated communication systems among responders.
... The response time of the Fire Service impacts the amount of damage. Research that has been conducted in New Zealand, the percentage of building fires rose by about 10% when emergency calls were also declined, delayed, or late [18]. ...
Purpose: Kepulauan Seribu is an inseparable part of DKI Jakarta Province. Kepulauan Seribu has more than 110 islands and 11 inhabited islands, where this island area has its own challenges to fire response time. The objective of this study is to measure the fire risk in Kepulauan Seribu, North Jakarta. Method: The data collection was carried out by means of stratified sampling and cross-sectional using a list of questionnaires and focus group discussion (FGD). The instrument used for the FGD with the Local Government Fire Service of Jakarta was a selected document with three parts; hazard, vulnerability, and risk management or fire protection and has twenty-two questions on a scale of one to five. The questionnaire on community leaders used customized questions on a scale of one to three. The results of both instruments were analyzed univariate and overlaid with the map of Kepulauan Seribu. Results: The results from both areas consisting of six urban villages and twenty-four community units showed that the locations with the highest risk of fire were located at Kelapa Island Urban Village at the high level, while the other five urban villages had a moderate risk. The most influential aspect of the high level of fire risk in Kepulauan Seribu was the dimensions of risk management and fire protection. Conclusion: The lack of infrastructure and fire fighting equipment were two important factors in the high risk of fire. The condition of the islands provides a significant difference in the source of the danger to fire, which one of the fire causes was autoignition. Suggestions that could be given are increasing the awareness and active roles of the community in fire control and prevention, managing training and socialization undertaken by the local communities and conceiving provision of infrastructure that supports fire prevention and control, transportation, and fire station.
... Emergency response times in urban areas, particularly in densely populated metropolitan regions such as New York City (NYC), are profoundly influenced by traffic congestion. Research has established that reducing the travel time of emergency vehicles (EMVs)-a critical component of overall emergency response time (ERT)-can significantly improve outcomes for urgent incidents, including emergency medical services (EMS) [1,2], fires [3,4], and police activities [5]. However, as New York City continues to undergo rapid urbanization, the growing congestion on its roadways has exacerbated this challenge. ...
Emergency response times are critical in densely populated urban environments like New York City (NYC), where traffic congestion significantly impedes emergency vehicle (EMV) mobility. This study introduces an intersection-aware emergency medical service (EMS) accessibility model to evaluate and improve EMV travel times across NYC. Integrating intersection density metrics, road network characteristics, and demographic data, the model identifies vulnerable regions with inadequate EMS coverage. The analysis reveals that densely interconnected areas, such as parts of Staten Island, Queens, and Manhattan, experience significant accessibility deficits due to intersection delays and sparse medical infrastructure. To address these challenges, this study explores the adoption of EMVLight, a multi-agent reinforcement learning framework, which demonstrates the potential to reduce intersection delays by 50\%, increasing EMS accessibility to 95\% of NYC residents within the critical benchmark of 4 minutes. Results indicate that advanced traffic signal control (TSC) systems can alleviate congestion-induced delays while improving equity in emergency response. The findings provide actionable insights for urban planning and policy interventions to enhance EMS accessibility and ensure timely care for underserved populations.
... Making the safety benefit of firefighting or fire safety measures concrete is therefore not easy. See for example a slightly dated but still relevant article of Challands into effects of faster response times and fire outcomes [24]. He concludes that research on this topic is limited. ...
All safety measures have costs and benefits associated to them. A social cost-benefit analysis (SCBA) therefore ideally is a part of fire safety policy decision-making. This chapter introduces the concept of SCBA and its constituting elements. A CBA case study on automatic fire alarm systems is presented to show how an SCBA can be computed. In this case study, the safety benefits of these systems do not outweigh the costs. The SCBA was basis for a policy decision to limit the number of objects for which an automatic fire alarm system is obligatory. Part of the input for any SCBA is insight into the value that the public attributes to aspects such as the presence of the fire service or the value of lives saved by fire safety measures. For the aspect of ‘lives saved’ in the context of fire safety, an estimate of the value of a statistical life (VOSL) is relevant. Not much research has been done to get insight into these values specifically for fire safety. We report on the outcome of an experiment to obtain these values in the Dutch context. Interesting enough, the fire VOSL was found to be a magnitude higher than the road safety VOSL.
Determining the relationship between moisture content in wood fuel and the time to flashover in fire accidents by using FDS simulation
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to evaluate the social and economic impact of the United Nations' intervention in the Fire Brigade Department (FBD) of the Urban Community Al-Fayhaa (UCF) in North Lebanon. The study uses a multi-perspective approach, including community, internal processes, resources and personnel development, to assess improvements in fire response capabilities, public safety measures and overall community resilience. The findings demonstrate that the intervention is both justifiable and feasible, with a high benefit-cost ratio, supporting the continuation and expansion of similar projects in crisis-affected regions.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology for the appraisal involved four steps: (1) a general literature review was conducted to identify elements related to costs and benefits, using both qualitative and quantitative methods; (2) a framework on economic efficiency, focusing on minimizing fatalities, injuries and property losses, was created to assess the intervention’s impact on fire brigade operations; (3) all costs related to the intervention were converted into monetary values, and a benefit-cost ratio was calculated and (4) a financial plan for the operation and maintenance was developed, covering facility, equipment, human resources and information technology costs, including inflation and currency devaluation factors.
Findings
The paper finds that the United Nations' intervention in the FBD of the UCF significantly improved fire response capabilities, public safety and community resilience. The intervention enhanced operational efficiency through better equipment, infrastructure, and staff training. A benefit-cost analysis showed a high ratio of 10.48, proving the intervention’s economic and social value. The study concludes that such targeted interventions are effective and should be continued and expanded in crisis-affected regions to strengthen local resilience and improve safety outcomes.
Originality/value
The originality of the paper lies in its comprehensive social and economic appraisal of a specific United Nations intervention in the FBD of the UCF in North Lebanon. It utilizes a multi-perspective approach – covering community, internal processes, resources and personnel development – to quantify the impacts of the intervention, offering a unique context-specific analysis. The study combines qualitative and quantitative methods, including benefit-cost analysis, to provide a nuanced understanding of the intervention’s effectiveness. This approach provides new insights into the value and feasibility of similar resilience-building projects in crisis-affected regions, particularly in the context of Lebanon’s ongoing challenges.
The actual economic cost of fire to New Zealand is determined. Distinction is made between the costs of fire risk management (including the costs of reducing the risk of fire and the costs of readiness and response to fire) and the consequential recovery costs of an actual fire. These costs are allocated between residential, commercial and public sectors.
The aim of this study is to investigate whether current statistics can quantify the benefits of fire brigades. A detailed investigation by the London Fire Brigade of most fires in the greater London area has been underway since 1994. The present study concerns 307 fires in non-residential buildings between 1994 and 1997. Times to detection, to arrival of the fire brigade, and to extinguishment of the fire, as well as the process of extinguishing it, are compared to the final property damage caused by the fire. In half of the fires, the final fire area equals the area at detection, and in three-quarters of the fires, the final fire area equals the fire area when the fire brigade arrived. No support was obtained for the hypothesis that the period between ignition and the time the fire brigade intervened correlates with fire area. However, the hypothesis is supported for fires still spreading when the brigade arrives. Both water flow rate for extinguishing a fire and water application time are proportional to the square root of the fire area. Total water demand is proportional to the fire area.
Fire Company staffing is an important issue. Properly done it ensures sufficiency of hands to perform a variety of tasks required for success on the fire ground. Directly or indirectly staffing affects losses and outcomes and is likely an element in firefighter and civilian safety. While the issue continues as part of a political consensus process, no recent attempts have been documented that suggest a process for local agencies to determine the appropriate company size based on their level of risk assessment and acceptability. This approach provides the practitioner with a model to utilize when considering this issue. It avoids the one-size-fits-all question by demonstrating a methodology for using community demands to determine appropriate fire unit sizing. The resulting process is relatively easily done once the community demands and expectations are identified. The article also considers additional factors other than staffing that can affect the outcome of community testing and that might support or raise questions regarding reliability and validity of the processes.
London Fire Brigade's real fire library is a database of information collected from real fire incidents by specialist teams of experienced fire investigators operating in the Greater London Area. A sample of this data collected over a five-year period has been used to characterise the distributions of fire sizes, fire growth rates and times between events that occur in building fires in a form suitable for use with probabilistic risk assessment. The effect of occupancy type, ignition source, first material ignited, and first aid fire-fighting by the occupants on the form of these distributions was then examined. Incidents that produced very large losses, rapid growth rates and extended time delays were also analysed to try to determine the reasons why such extremes occur in real fires.
Human Behaviour Contributing to Unintentional Residential Fire Deaths 1997 – 2003 Wellington: New Zealand Fire Service Commission
- Miller
- Ian
Miller, Ian, (2005), Human Behaviour Contributing to Unintentional Residential Fire Deaths 1997 – 2003. NZFSC Report Number 47. Wellington: New Zealand Fire Service Commission.
The Cost of Managing the Risk of Fire in New Zealand Wellington: New Zealand Fire Service Commission
- M Goodchild
- K Sanderson
- Leung
- J Wai
- G Nana
Goodchild M., Sanderson K., Leung-Wai J., Nana G., (2005), The Cost of Managing the Risk of Fire in New Zealand, NZFSC Report Number 53. Wellington: New Zealand Fire Service Commission.
Human behaviour contributing to unintentional residential fire deaths 1997–2003. NZFSC Report no 47
- Miller
The cost of repair to fire damaged buildings. NZFSC Report no 91
- Page
The cost of managing the risk
- M Goodchild
- K Sanderson
- J Leung-Wai
- Nana
Goodchild M, Sanderson K, Leung-Wai J, Nana G (2005) The cost of managing the risk
The cost of repair to fire damaged buildings
- I Page
Page, Ian, (2009), The cost of repair to fire damaged buildings, NZFSC Report Number 91.
Wellington: New Zealand Fire Service Commission.