Coordinating a team of agents in the forest firefighting domain

Documento confidencial. Não pode ser disponibilizado para consultaTese de mestrado. Inteligência Artificial e Sistemas Inteligentes. 2006. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Port

THE NEXT GENERATION OF WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING TOOLS: USING UAV SWARMS FOR FIRE ATTACK

Wildland fires pose a direct threat to homeland security because of the severe personal, economic, and social stress they cause to those affected. As unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms become more ubiquitous in use, they will likely find a place as a frontline firefighting aerial asset, increasing the operational pace of aerial suppression flights and consequently increasing the safety of firefighters. This thesis explored the concept of using UAV swarms as a method for fire attack by comparing theoretical swarms to a conventional aerial asset within a realistic fire scenario and then using a systems engineering approach to define pressure points for implementing UAV swarms in the wildland space. The findings of this research support continued development of UAV swarms and clearly define areas that must be addressed before implementing large-scale UAV swarm flights. The firefighting UAV swarm system shows great promise due to its relative portability and ability to provide an aerial firefighting option to areas without ready access to conventional firefighting aircraft. It will be critical, however, to address logistical and communications constraints of UAV swarm systems before implementation to ensure positive outcomes.Civilian, Portland Fire and RescueApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

To better understand the absorption of combustion byproducts during firefighting, we performed biological monitoring (breath and urine) on firefighters who responded to controlled residential fires and examined the results by job assignment and fire attack tactic. Urine was analyzed for metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and breath was analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including benzene. Median concentrations of PAH metabolites in urine increased from pre-firefighting to 3-h post firefighting for all job assignments. This change was greatest for firefighters assigned to attack and search with 2.3, 5.6, 3.9, and 1.4-fold median increases in pyrene, phenanthrene, naphthalene, and fluorene metabolites. Median exhaled breath concentrations of benzene increased 2-fold for attack and search firefighters (p\u2009<\u20090.01) and 1.4-fold for outside vent firefighters (p\u2009=\u20090.02). Compared to interior attack, transitional attack resulted in 50% less uptake of pyrene (p\u2009=\u20090.09), 36% less uptake phenanthrene (p\u2009=\u20090.052), and 20% less uptake of fluorene (p\u2009<\u20090.01). Dermal absorption likely contributed to firefighters' exposures in this study. Firefighters' exposures will vary by job assignment and can be reduced by employing a transitional fire attack when feasible.CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHS/United States2020-06-29T00:00:00Z31175324PMC73234737915vault:3566

Wildfire suppression – an international analysis of operations, strategy and firefighter safety

Wildfire suppression remains an inherently dangerous yet increasingly frequent task for fire services throughout Australia and the world. Each year firefighters from career and volunteer agencies respond to wildfires that impact the urban interface. When such an event occurs during a period of intense fire behaviour the conditions are often incompatible with life for persons either caught in the open or those seeking refuge in a vehicle. In order to improve firefighter safety and operational effectiveness at the rural urban interface (RUI) during landscape scale wildfires, this dissertation serves to examine critical components of wildfire response, most notably wildfire suppression strategies and tactics applied during a landscape scale wildfire event and the procedures and protective systems utilised in the event of firefighter entrapment and burnover. The theme of the research is firefighter safety and suppression effectiveness during mega-wildfire response at the rural urban interface (RUI), also known as the wildland urban interface (WUI). Mega-wildfires are those landscape wildfires that overwhelm firefighting resources, typically generate their own localized weather systems, and require campaign style efforts lasting extended durations. Wildfire events including Margaret River (2011), and Yarloop (2016) in Western Australia, the devastating Californian and Greece wildfires (2018) and the unprecedented wildfires throughout eastern Australia in late 2019 / early 2020 meet this category. The RUI is the land where towns and cities exist alongside forest and other vegetation that supports the development of an established headfire with a quasi-steady rate of spread (RoS) across the landscape. In such instances, firefighters are called on to protect vulnerable communities and critical infrastructure from the ember storms, radiant heat and flames that accompany the head fire. In doing so, firefighters face great personal peril. If the incorrect suppression tactics or strategies are applied, or if wildfire behaviour suddenly changes, firefighter entrapment and burnover resulting in significant injury or fatality remains an all too common consequence. The studies not only quantify the severity of the conditions firefighters encounter when attempting to protect life, property and the environment at the RUI, but also find traditional wildfire suppression strategies and tactics at the RUI need to be reexamined. Whilst the field of wildfire engineering is in its infancy, the studies suggest its development and adoption into wildfire suppression operations has the potential to improve both operational effectiveness and firefighter safety

Master of Science

thesisWildland firefighters are often called on to make tactical decisions under stressful conditions in order to suppress a fire. They frequently make these decisions based on their gained intuition over time, and also by considering previous specific fire experiences. This assists them in anticipating future fire behavior and developing tactics designed to suppress the fire while avoiding entrapment. These decisions can be hindered by human factors such as insufficient knowledge of surroundings and conditions, inexperience, overextension of resources, or loss of situational awareness. One potential tool for assisting fire managers in situations where human factors can hinder decision-making is the Wildland Urban Interface Evacuation (WUIVAC) model, which models minimum fire travel times to create geographic triggers for evacuation recommendations. Using a range of expected weather conditions and resource configurations, we generated a range of expected trigger buffer outcomes. Our objective was to use these outcomes to illustrate: (a) what spatial uncertainty is inherent in the geographic triggers produced by the range in expected conditions that contribute to fire behavior, and (b) after taking into account uncertainty, whether triggers are likely to be useful for rapid tactical decision-making. Utilizing 80 different tactical, weather, and fuel condition inputs, we demonstrated the use of WUIVAC for setting trigger points intended for use in planned firefighting operations to ensure entrapment avoidance. These triggers were used to determine when firefighting resources should disengage the fire and evacuate to a safety zone, shelter in place, turn down an assignment, or reengage and change tactics altogether based on predicted conditions. Using the 2007 Zaca Fire in the Los Padres National Forest, California as a case study, we show that WUIVAC can provide analytically driven physicallybased trigger points, and when coupled with intuitive decisions, it can assist in setting triggers for entrapment avoidance and ultimately contribute to firefighter safety

A handbook of wildfire engineering: Guidance for wildfire suppression and resilient urban design

A Handbook of Wildfire Engineering (the Handbook) provides firefighters, engineers and town planners with detailed technical approaches and analysis to enhance the resilience of communities in areas prone to wildfire impacts, and enhance the safety and effectiveness of wildfire suppression at the urban interface during catastrophic wildfire condition

Big Fire, Big Water: An Evaluation of Fire Service Tactics in High-Rise and Standpipe Equipped Structures

Fighting fires in high-rise buildings poses numerous distinct challenges to the fire service. Fires are now growing faster and release more heat than ever before. To combat these fires, firefighters have numerous additional tasks created by the challenge of high-rise buildings compared to other structures. Even the simplest tasks such as supplying water and advancing hoses are much more difficult in these buildings. The results of this presentation were obtained through extensive literature review as well as extrapolated data from empirical research obtained through field testing conducted by the presenter and by nationally recognized research facilities such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and applying this data to high-rise buildings. This presentation will: relay the various components of a modern firefighting package for high-rise and standpipe equipped buildings, discuss basic fire dynamics and how they apply to both residential and commercial high-rise buildings, discuss basic firefighting hydraulic principles, discuss common firefighting tactics. Special consideration is given to modern fire service research

FITERN: Firefighting Tactic and Technique Application as A Web-Based Learning Media Integrated with A Robotic Simulator

In the era of technological disruption and digital revolution, vocational higher education must align its graduates' competency and qualification needs and follow developments in science and technology in the workplace. Education is becoming increasingly complex, so it is necessary to implement new learning methods, one of which is e-learning-based education. This research aims to design and develop Fire Fighting Tactic and Technique Learning Media (FITERN) as a web-based learning media application product integrated with a robotic simulator. This research uses Research and Development (R&amp;D) techniques with the ADDIE approach to ensure that information system development meets quality standards. The research results show that the feasibility assessment by media experts received an average score of 18.62 and a percentage of 93.12%, The feasibility assessment by material experts received an average score of 18.17 and a percentage of 90.83%, and Students' evaluation responses to FITERN learning media as seen from the aspects of programming (technical), media appearance (media presentation), material, and usefulness receive an average score of 18.62 and a percentage of 90.83%. So, the Development of The FITERN Application as A Web-Based Learning Media is proper for interactive multimedia learning. This research resulted in developing new and interactive learning media for firefighting tactics and techniques courses that utilize information technology and are integrated with firefighting robot systems so that students' learning outcomes can be further improved

Ratownictwo medyczne w zdarzeniach CBRNE/HAZMAT

Cel: Celem badania było wypracowanie nowej taktyki ratownictwa medycznego działającego w warunkach zdarzeń CBRNE/HAZMAT, pozwalającej na podjęcie medycznych czynności ratunkowych (MCR) w obszarze dotychczas niedostępnym dla systemu Państwowe Ratownictwo Medyczne (PRM). Projekt i metody: Powstanie nowych zagrożeń ze strony materiałów niebezpiecznych, zwłaszcza zagrożeń o charakterze terrorystycznym, wymusza właściwe przygotowanie służb ratowniczych do reagowania. Postęp techniczny w obszarze środków ochrony przed skażeniami i środków ochrony dróg oddechowych pozwala obecnie na opracowanie bezpiecznych i skutecznych metod ochrony personelu medycznego. Badanie przeprowadzone zostało w latach 2016–2018. Skupiono się w nim nad możliwością udzielania pomocy medycznej na wszystkich etapach działań ratowniczych. Przeanalizowano procedury postępowania systemu PRM, Krajowego Systemu Ratowniczo-Gaśniczego (KSRG) i jednostek kontrterrorystcznych Biura Operacji Antyterrorystycznych Komendy Głównej Policji (BOA KGP), Centrum Reagowania Epidemiologicznego Sił Zbrojnych RP (CRESZ) przewidzianych do wykorzystania w incydentach CBRNE/HAZMAT. Dokonano analizy luk w obszarze udzielania pomocy medycznej poszkodowanym w ramach dotychczas stosowanej taktyki działania każdej ze służb. W trakcie badania przeanalizowano indywidualne środki ochrony przed skażeniami i środki ochrony dróg oddechowych wykorzystywane w poszczególnych służbach pod kątem możliwości ich zastosowania w obszarze systemu PRM. Wyniki: Na podstawie przeprowadzonych badań wypracowano nową taktykę ratownictwa medycznego, opierającą się na wyposażeniu w indywidualne środki ochrony, nowym systemie zarządzania i nowym modelu organizacji działań. Prowadzona analiza możliwości wykorzystania indywidualnych środków ochrony przed skażeniami i środków ochrony dróg oddechowych pozwoliła na wypracowanie nowych zasad ochrony personelu medycznego systemu Państwowe Ratownictwo Medyczne. Przeprowadzone ćwiczenia wykazały możliwość implementacji nowych rozwiązań do systemu ratowniczego oraz uzupełnienie procedur postępowania na kolejnych etapach działań ratowniczych w zdarzeniach CBRNE/HAZMAT. Wnioski: Proponowana nowa taktyka ratownictwa medycznego poprawia efektywność systemu ratowniczego w zdarzeniach CBRNE/HAZMAT, poprzez umożliwienie wcześniejszego podjęcia medycznych czynności ratunkowych w stanach zagrożenia życia oraz zabezpieczenia medycznego pacjentów na wszystkich etapach prowadzenia działań ratowniczych.Aim: The purpose of the study is to work out a new emergency medical service (EMS) tactic to be employed in CBRNE/HAZMAT incidents, which would allow performing emergency medical procedures in the area so far inaccessible to the State Emergency Medical System (Polish abbreviation: PRM). Project and methods: Incidents involving new hazardous materials, especially terrorist ones, demand emergency services to be well prepared in order to respond accordingly. Latest technological advances regarding both personal protective equipment (PPE) for preventing contamination and respiratory protection equipment bring effective and safe methods of medical professionals’ protection at every stage of rescue operations being performed. The research study was conducted in 2016–2018 and its main focus was on providing medical care at all stages of rescue operations. The CBRNE/HAZMAT incident procedures of the State Emergency Medical System (PRM), the National Firefighting and Rescue System (KSRG), the Bureau of Anti-Terrorist Operations of the National Police Headquarters (BOA KGP) and the Epidemiological Response Centre of the Polish Armed Forces (CRESZ) were thoroughly analysed. An analysis of procedural shortcomings within rescue operations of all services was also conducted. In addition, the PPE for preventing contamination and the respiratory protection equipment that is used by various emergency services and may also be applied within PRM operations was thoroughly examined. Results: Based on the study, a new EMS tactic was developed using the available PPE, a management system of rescue operations and a model of organisation of any operations. The in-depth analysis of PPE for preventing contamination and respiratory protection equipment indicated new solutions and methods for protecting professionals of the State Emergency Medical System (PRM) while providing pre-hospital and hospital care (in Hospital Emergency Departments). A set of training drills employing new tactics and PPE indicated real possibilities to transfer new solutions to EMS that would compensate the shortcomings identified within the procedures of responses at the subsequent stages of CBRNE/HAZMAT incidents. Conclusions: The suggested tactic of emergency medical services shall enhance the effectiveness of the emergency rescue system in CBRNE/HAZMAT incidents as it enables emergency medical procedures (Polish abbreviation: MCR) to be more promptly performed in patients with life-threatening conditions, along with providing medical care at all stages of rescue operations

Flame retardants, dioxins, and furans in air and on firefighters’ protective ensembles during controlled residential firefighting

Structure fires that involve modern furnishings may emit brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs), as well as brominated and chlorinated dioxins and furans, into the environment. The goal of this study was to quantify the airborne and personal protective equipment (PPE) contamination levels of these compounds during controlled residential fires in the U.S., and to evaluate gross-decontamination measures