A Computational Study of the Station Nightclub Fire Accounting for Social Relationships

Authored by Jieshi Fang, Sherif El-Tawil, Benigno Aguirre, Eric Best

Date Published: 2017

DOI: 10.18564/jasss.3519

Sponsors: United States National Science Foundation (NSF)

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: Other Narrative Mathematical description

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

Using agent-based modeling, this study presents the results of a computational study of social relationships among more than four hundreds evacuees in The Station Nightclub building in Rhode Island. The fire occurred on the night of February 20, 2003 and resulted in 100 fatalities. After summarizing and calibrating the computational method used, parametric studies are conducted to quantitatively investigate the influences of the presence of social relationships and familiarity of the building floor plan on the death and injury tolls. It is demonstrated that the proposed model has the ability to reasonably handle the complex social relationships and group behaviors present during egress. The simulations quantify how intimate social affiliations delay the overall egress process and show the extent by which lack of knowledge of a building floor plan limits exit choices and adversely affects the number of safe evacuations.

Tags

Agent-based model collective behavior Evacuation Social relationships Egress Scalar field method The station building fire