Presentation: This presentation will detail the factors that affect occupant response in structure fires. Based on research over the past several decades and illustrated with videos from surveillance cameras and experiments, the presenter will show the characteristics of occupants, buildings and the environment that impact the decisions and actions of people experiencing fire or warnings of fire. The new edition of the SFPE Guide to Human Behavior in Fire will be discussed as well.
Guest Presenter: Rita Fahy, Applied Research Manager at NFPA
Rita F. Fahy is a Manager in the Applied Research group of the National Fire Protection Association. She is involved in statistical analysis and computer modeling work, mainly in the areas of firefighter deaths and human behavior in fire. She has been active in evacuation and fire modeling and analysis for over 30 years and was involved in statistical studies of human behavior in four major fires in high-occupancy properties, including the World Trade Center in New York City, and has authored studies focusing on social and economic factors relevant to fire experience. She has authored NFPA's annual study of on-duty firefighter fatalities since 1981. She holds a B.S. in Mathematics and an M.S.I.E. in Operations Research from Northeastern University, and a PhD for Published Work from the University of Ulster. She is a member of the International Association for Fire Safety Science, and currently a visiting lecturer at Lund University, teaching a course on fire-related human behavior.
