Fire Response Performance and Social Behavior in Tunnels Distinguishing from Buildings in Evacuation

Abstract

The most decisive factor of tunnels' safety in the face of fire is the chance of evacuation safely. Immediate response and proper movement in evacuation from tunnels in fire is essential, which can largely improve the rescue efficiency and reduce the casualties. Tunnels, different from buildings, provide significantly different influence on evacuees due to its unique environment, layout, fire facilities etc. These external distinction not only affect the objective escape conditions directly, but also social behavior indirectly. Consequently, understanding how people behave in the case of fire is of great benefit to bring fire safety measures in line with their need and render valid escape guide in emergency. This paper makes a comparison of people's behavior affected by smoke accumulation, visibility, complexity of structure and fire safety facilities in tunnels and buildings according to available literature. Moreover, psychological comparison namely property attachment, affinity to the surroundings and influence by other evacuees are presented. The discrepancy between tunnels and buildings indicates that corresponding strategies should be applied on different scenarios in tunnel and there is a need to distinguish fire safety education separately.