In this mini-series of the Uncovered Witness - Fire Science Revelations, we cover the subject of the means of escape - the technical solutions in our buildings meant to allow for human evacuation in case of a fire.

In the first episode of the series, we discuss exit capacities and flow rates. How do we know how many people can fit in the building? What do the models look like, and where did they come from? What data do we have at our disposal, and how relevant is it?

We also refer to the tragic fires in Beverly Hills Supper Club and Gothenburg discothèque fire. What lessons are in those tragedies, and how insufficient exit capacity was one of the critical components of the disaster.

We also cover modern technologies such as VR and automated systems to count people, and we look forward to their future use in building fire safety.

Guests featured in this podcast episode:

• Prof. Daniel Nilsson, University of Canterbury, Halliwell Fire Research
• Luke de Schot, Halliwell Fire Research
• Josh Gibbons, Halliwell Fire Research

Relevant Fire Science Show episodes:

• Human walking speed and factors that influence it with John Gales
• The future of evacuation modelling with Enrico Ronchi and Ruggiero Lovreglio

This show is produced by the Fire Science Media for Halliwell Fire Research. Executive producer - Monika Węgrzyńska, scripting and production - Monika and Wojciech Węgrzyńscy, sound engineer - Mikołaj Jarząbek. All rights reserved. 2024.