Petri net based simulation analysis for emergency response to multiple simultaneous large scale fires
Abstract In the field of hazardous chemicals, there are many flammable materials located in different places within an industrial area. It is possible that major fires occur at the same time due to terrorism or vandalism (i.e. a security point of view) These fires might lead to domino effects at different locations around. Whether the fire emergency response preparedness, which is organized to fight against one of the fires, can handle the multiple fires, is studied in this article and a Petri net based simulation approach is proposed. Through Petri net based simulation, the process of fire fighting can be revealed. A model of fighting against three fires is established, and the strategies of fire fighters staffing arrangements are analyzed. The results show that in most cases the distribution according to fire severity is better than the average distribution, but in some conditions the average distribution strategy prevails. Different backup staffing strategies are also compared, and the results indicate that the improvement by increasing staffing backups also depends on the fire conditions.