Evaluation of Fire and Evacuation Safety in School Dormitories

Abstract

This study aims to prepare an optimal plan to secure evacuation safety in the event of a fire in a school dormitory. Accordingly, the available safe egress time (ASET) was calculated by applying human safety standards, such as an indoor temperature of 60 ℃, a visual distance of 5 m, CO at 1,400 ppm, O2 at 15% and CO2 at 5%. Additionally, in the event of a fire, the required safe egress time (RSET) was calculated by applying factors such as detection, alarm, recognition, interpretation, the evacuation start of the occupants, training status, and the alarm facilities. An analysis of the ASET and RSET showed that in the event of a fire, it is necessary to secure various evacuation routes, in addition to the usual access route, to evacuate quickly by bypassing the fire occurrence point. Moreover, it was found that the ASET varied at each point inside the building, owing to the influences of toxic gases, oxygen, heat, visibility, and smoke resulting from the fire. In addition, in the event of a fire, evacuating along a planned evacuation route designed to minimize confusion and bottlenecks among students was effective for evacuation safety. Finally, it was found that evacuation safety can be secured by designating evacuation routes that are suitable for use in situations in which the location of the fire is unknown.