Methodology for Reducing the Duration of the Free Development of Fire

Abstract

Objective: The task is to develop a methodology for reducing the duration of the free development of fire, based on the principles of optimising the route of fire and rescue vehicles from the fire department to the place of call. To do this, it is necessary to analyse and distinguish factors that affect the duration of fire truck’s travel to the place of call to reduce the duration of the free development of fire. To solve this problem, the behaviour of the fire vehicle in the «driver – car – road – environment» system was investigated. Methods: Theoretical research was carried out on the basis of methods of mathematical analysis, mathematical statistics, probability theory, and graph theory. The accuracy of the results of theoretical studies is suitable for engineering calculations. The processing of the results was carried out using the STATISTICA and Microsoft Excel software. Simulation methods were used to develop an algorithm for reducing the duration of the free development of fire, as well as the Monte Carlo method. Results: The study shows that the fire truck travel time to the place of call has the greatest influence on the duration of the free development of fire. The necessity of investigating the behaviour of fire vehicles in the system of “road conditions – traffic flows” was substantiated in order to reduce the duration of its travel to the place of call. A graph model of optimising the route of fire vehicles from the depot to the place of call has been developed. The simulation model for predicting the duration of the fire and rescue unit’s travel to the place of call is developed, which will make it possible to determine the optimal travel route and reduce the duration of the free development of fire. Conclusions: The methodology of reducing the duration of the free development of fire on the basis of optimisation of the fire and rescue vehicle route from the fire department to the place of emergency is developed in this study. The theoretical calculations show that the developed methodology makes it possible to reduce the length of travel of special vehicles and, consequently, reduce the duration of free fire development on average by 7%. It is established that in order to determine all possible variants of the fire-propulsion traffic route, it is expedient to use the theory of graphs; such a model is presented in the study. In the future, it will be beneficial to develop and improve the existing mathematical models of fire vehicle movement, taking into account the parameters of traffic flows and road safety.