The Application of Algorithms for Fire-Fighting Search Operations within Buildings

Fire departments already make use of geographic information systems (GIS) to reduce the response time in case of incidents. However, the complex internal structure of buildings on fire may make search and rescue difficult in emergency situations. Search is the act of firefighters' looking for something (e.g. the location of potential victims). Search is possibly one of themost dangerous activities on the fire ground. Sometimes the visibility is zero, and the environment is really hot. Because of limited operating time in the building, the key to a successful search is how quickly firefighters can search. This study is motivated by the need for a micro GIS to represent and analyze 3D spatial data in fire-fighting search operations. The method can minimize the searching time for potential victims. The developed method generates a 3D geometric network model from 2D building plans. To search a whole floor within the building, the genetic algorithmis used to find the optimal locations of rescue teams to deploy. In addition, when firefighters need to search an area in order to find the victims, the ant algorithm is applied to find the shortest path that passes through each room of the area. Finally, the model is implemented to perform fire-fighting search analysis froman underground station.