Experimental Study on Pedestrian Behaviors during Fire Emergency Conditions with Minecraft: Case Studies in a Classroom

Abstract

The comprehension of the fire evacuation process is crucial for developing effective evacuation management strategies to enhance pedestrian safety. In this study, we construct a classroom with internal obstacles forming intersecting pathways in Minecraft, and conduct a series of virtual evacuation experiments involving multiple pedestrians to investigate the pedestrian behaviors. Case studies in a single-exit classroom demonstrated that normal obstacles and fire in the main evacuation path prompt pedestrians to detour, and pedestrians exhibit fire-avoidance behavior in advance during fire emergency. In the two-exit classroom experiments, normal obstacles have a limited effect on the exit choices of pedestrians, as they primarily choose the nearest exit. Pedestrians positioned in the center of classroom are influenced by their initial orientations, and some pedestrians opt for exits in their initial facing directions. The presence of fire has a greater influence on pedestrians’ exit choices, with most opting for exits away from the fire. Furthermore, during fire emergencies, some pedestrians engage in risk-taking behavior by choosing higher-risk paths in pursuit of a faster evacuation. These adventurous pedestrians proactively plan routes that maximize their distance from the fire and exhibit orderly queuing behavior. These findings are helpful to reveal pedestrian behaviors during fire emergencies.