Citation

Bjørnsen G, Billett S, Njå O. Fire Safety J. 2023; 136: e103758.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.firesaf.2023.103758

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Tunnel fire safety management consists of many activities and priorities, the first of which is integrating safety by developing safer concepts than single-bore bi-directional tunnels. However, other tunnel design aspects, such as length, slope, curvature and intersections, will also compromise safety. Fire prevention by, for example, careful selection of materials is the next priority. The third priority is preparedness measures, such as technical passive and active fire protection systems, and other technical safety information and management systems. The fourth priority is fire mitigation, which includes emergency response systems and road users' behaviour and responses in tunnel fires. These involve evacuation systems, fire combating systems and search and rescue systems. An overview of the design of the tunnel fire safety management system could be organized by means of the holistic systems thinking approach [1]. Consequently, the fire departments ‘competence constitutes a major concern in assessments of performance and consequences of tunnel fires.

Tunnels are key elements of the Norwegian road transport system. Usually, their role is to ease road traffic and reduce travel time. Although incidents in tunnels have a lower frequency than incidents on open roads, the potential consequences of accidents in tunnels are far greater [2]. These consequences include the number of potential victims, the physical and psychological impacts on road users, and major economic and infrastructure impacts. Tunnel designs and technical safety equipment, therefore, must be assessed together with the behaviour of road users (i.e., drivers and passengers) and the performance of first responders. Importantly, fires can occur several kilometres from the tunnel entrance and in challenging environments. Given that fires represent major threats to humans and infrastructure, emergencies require well-trained incident commanders and firefighters. In addition, the principle of self-rescue needs to be exercised by road users. This is a demanding task, since road users must understand emerging situations and know how to evacuate. It is paramount, therefore, to ensure optimal interaction between road users, first responders and tunnel safety systems ...

Language: en