Overall Abstract

In 2013, fire departments in the United States responded to more than 480,000 structure fires [1]. These fires resulted in
approximately 2850 civilian fatalities, 14,000 injuries, and estimated property losses of $10 billion dollars. More than 30,000
fire fighters were injured on the fireground [2]. These losses can be significantly reduced by exploiting new opportunities in
technology development, including cyber-physical systems through the fusion of emerging sensor and computing technol-
ogies with building control systems, fire-fighting equipment, and apparatus. Cyber-physical systems will revolutionize fire
fighting through a range of approaches most notably represented by collecting the data globally, processing the information
centrally, and distributing the results locally.
The overarching goal for this work is to develop a research roadmap that establishes the scientific and the technical
bases to achieve what is being called Smart Fire Fighting. The vision for Smart Fire Fighting involves the following:
• Saving lives and minimizing injuries to building occupants and community members
• Improving fire fighter occupational health and safety
• Enhancing the overall operational efficiency of the fire service and the effectiveness of fire prevention and protection
• Minimizing property loss from fire
• Minimizing business interruption and loss of mission continuity due to fire
Smart Fire Fighting includes all areas of fire prevention and protection engineering and fire service emergency response,
and it addresses all phases of resilience (i.e., pre-incident, during an incident, and post-incident). Smart Fire Fighting will
transform traditional fire protection and fire fighting practices to ensure the flow of critical information where and when it
is needed. Fire prevention is an essential element of Smart Fire Fighting. This will be achieved by enhancing the power of
information through enhanced data gathering, processing, and targeted communications. An evolving range of databases and
sensor networks will be tapped to create, store, exchange, analyze, and integrate information into critical knowledge for the
purpose of Smart Fire Fighting. Engineering, developing, and deploying these systems will require new measurement tools
and standards, among other technology developments. This roadmap identifies and addresses high-priority measurement
science research challenges, technical barriers, and related research and development gaps that hinder widespread application
of Smart Fire Fighting technologies and systems to enhance building and community fire protection.

References

1. Karter, Jr., M. J. 2014. Fire Loss in the United States During 2013. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Association.
2. Karter, M. J., and J. L. Molis. 2014. U.S. Fire Fighter Injuries 2013. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Association.

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 Acknowledgements and Disclaimer

This report represents a Research Roadmap for Smart Fire Fighting, which was developed from September 2013 to May
2015. This effort was sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This report would not have
been possible without the specialized knowledge and insight contributed by the project participants and chapter authors,
representing recognized experts in various aspects of fire fighting and cyber-physical systems. These experts took time from
their busy schedules to participate in this effort and share their insight.
This project has benefited from the feedback and guidance from the Project Technical Panel that includes the following
individuals: Bob Athanas (NFPA TC on Electronic Safety Equip Chair & FDNY); Christina Baxter (DOD/TSWG); John
Delaney (Arlington County Fire Department & IAB); Jay Gore (Purdue University); Bill Haskell (NIOSH NPPTL); Gavin
Horn (University of Illinois & IFSI); Andre Marshall (Univeristy of Maryland); Peter Wang (Continuum Analytics); and
Ken Willette (National Fire Protection Association). Special appreciation is expressed to the NFPA editorial and production
staff that have handled the processing of this report, including: Josianne Domenici, Erin Donahue, Cheryl Langway, Ken
Ritchie, Suzanne St. Clair, Khela Thorne, and Nancy Wirtes.

xxi

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 section

1 INTRODUCTION

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 3 Head 3
1.1  IntroductionRunning

ChapteR Background
and Vision
1
Anthony Hamins Abstract
Albert Jones
Fire losses throughout the world remain too high and fire fighting too hazardous.
Nelson Bryner
Today, data from a variety of sources are collected independently and processed
National Institute of separately, but evolving new technologies are enabling the use of vast amounts of
Standards and Technology
information. The use of this information continues to demonstrate great promise at
Gaithersburg, Maryland
enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency with the duties handled by fire fighters.
Importantly this equates to improved safety and health for this high risk profession,
Galen Koepke
via situational and incident awareness and other factors. Knowledge is power, and
National Institute of
harvesting the data important to fire fighters is empowering the smart fire fighter
Standards and Technology
of the future.
Boulder, Colorado

Casey Grant
Fire Protection Research 1.1 Introduction
Foundation
Quincy, Massachusetts
In 2013, fire departments in the United States responded to more than 480,000 structure
fires, which caused close to 2850 civilian fatalities, 14,000 injuries, and property losses
of approximately 10 billion dollars [1]. More than 30,000 fire fighters were injured on
the fireground [2]. Such losses can be significantly reduced by exploiting the abundance
Keywords of new cyber information (both software and hardware) technologies being deployed in
Smart Fire Fighting a number of other domains such as manufacturing, health care, and the power grid. The
cyber-physical systems introduction and integration of new technologies into those areas have led to new types
of systems called cyber-physical systems (CPS), which in turn have resulted in greatly
(CPS)
improved performance, safety, prediction, and resilience.
fire service emergency
A similar transformation can lead to analogous benefits for fire protection and fire
responder
fighting. The introduction of appropriate technologies and systems will facilitate the fusion
and use of a wide array of real-time sensor data from the community, buildings, fire fighters,
equipment, and fire apparatus during not only an emergency event but also the pre-events
(e.g., code enforcement, prevention, training) and the post-events (e.g., overhaul, salvage,
investigation). These data have the potential to enhance fire protection and situational
awareness on the fireground and, together with information from cloud-based databases,
will provide valuable input for computational models and decision tools. The result will be
better predictions of the likely evolution of an incident, leading to better tactical decisions.
The use of technology in this manner, referred to here as Smart Fire Fighting, includes
all areas of fire protection engineering and phases of fire service emergency response:
pre-incident, during-incident, and post-incident. Smart Fire Fighting will transform tra-
ditional fire prevention and protection strategies and fire-fighting practices by ensuring
the flow of critical information where and when it is needed. This flow will be achieved
by increasing the power of information through enhanced data gathering, processing, and
targeted communications. The engineering, development, and deployment of cyber-physical

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 4 Chapter 1   Background and Vision

systems for fire fighting will require new measurement tools and standards, among other technology developments. A roadmap
is necessary to identify and address high-priority measurement science research challenges, technical barriers, and related
research and development gaps that hinder widespread application of Smart Fire Fighting technologies and systems. This
chapter is an overview of the current state and future trends and clarifies the vision of Smart Fire Fighting. It also describes
the scope and purpose of the roadmap, research challenges for cyber-physical systems, and next steps.

1.2  The Current State of Fire Fighting

1.2.1  “House Fire at 135 Maple Street; Truck 51, Engine 81, Ambulance 61 Head Out”

Upon receiving a 9-1-1 call, the emergency communication center issues an alert, dispatching equipment and personnel
to the incident. Emergency responders receive the alert and immediately initiate transit to the fireground. Addressing the
situation to the best of their ability, the fire fighters work to control the fire and ensure the safety of the building’s occupants.
According to common practice (i.e., SLICE-RS/DICERS, from the International Society of Fire Service Instructors and
FDNY), fire fighters need to Size up the incident, Locate the fire, Identify the fire, Cool the fire from a safe distance, Extin-
guish the fire, Rescue, Salvage, ventilate, and overhaul efficiently, effectively, and safely [3]. DICERS adds the important
Detect and Isolate functions at the front end of the size and locate steps and emphasizes the Rescue and Salvage missions
following the Confine and Extinguish steps. An incident commander (IC) arrives on scene to manage the entire process,
which can involve multiple responders and apparatus from various jurisdictions. The IC’s ability to manage this process
can be extremely challenging, particularly because these situations typically are highly information limited and rapidly
changing. Regardless, it is the IC’s responsibility to ensure an efficient, safe, and effective response.
Available information on the situation becomes apparent piecemeal — neither collected nor processed in a systematic
fashion. Consequently, the progression of events associated with the incident can be protracted. Small teams of fire fighters
analyze their immediate situation, based on locally collected data, and take action based solely on that analysis. Some teams
can communicate their situation and their actions over radio to the IC, others cannot. The IC combines whatever information
comes from the teams with past experiences to build a mental model of the entire fireground and then issues commands to
the teams based on that model. The IC might command one team to initiate search and rescue operations and another team
to ventilate the structure to clear smoke and hot gases from the building.
If the IC’s mental model is incorrect or the commands are misunderstood or misinterpreted, the timing and imple-
mentation of key tasks could be seriously flawed. For example, the ventilation team could begin its task too early or in the
wrong location, resulting in the search and rescue team being trapped. Bad things happen too often, and there are too many
injuries, fatalities, and near misses for fire fighters and building occupants. Frequently, ICs do not learn of the success or
failure of their individual commands or of the entire process until the teams and the occupants emerge from the structure.
Scenes like this one play out hundreds of times a day, every day, every year. While the fireground is rich with infor-
mation, decision making on the fireground is data limited. The approach used thus far — of independent and incomplete
data collection, constrained analysis, and action with limited coordination — hampers an IC’s ability to optimize tactical
decisions. If lucky and skillful, the fire fighters and emergency medical services personnel are successful despite the chaos.
If the situation changes unexpectedly, if information is communicated incompletely or incorrectly, and if inappropriate
decisions are made, lives and property often are lost.

1.2.2  Why Is It This Way?

There are more than 30,000 fire departments in the United States and almost as many operating procedures for fighting fires.
Why is that? Because there are no national standards for such procedures! While standards exist for training, equipment, and
other key focus areas, tactics and strategies typically are controlled by three major factors: (1) the experience and judgment
of the IC; (2) limited data that are either visually observed or derived from the operating environment, such as a fire alarm
panel or fire command center; and (3) jurisdictional standard operating procedures. At a fire incident, the variation in these
factors can be tremendous. If the fire service is working without specific and reliable information regarding the fire location,
history, and projected growth; the building geometry and its contents; the location of occupants and fire-fighting personnel;
the fire suppression activities and their consequences; and the status of fire protection assets, then their response strategy
will continue to rely on experiential judgment.

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 1.3  A Vision of Fire Protection and Fire Fighting in the Future 5

Transformation of the paradigm of tradition-based, experiential fire fighting calls for data-driven methods coupled
with computational software that can inform tactical, deployment, and operational strategies. Such methods and software
have yet to be developed, tested, and demonstrated in the field to be more effective. As a result, decision making on the
fireground is information limited — there is a lack of complete, real-time data on the fire, the building’s occupants, and the
fire fighters themselves. Very few sensors exist that provide quantitative, real-time information on the changing conditions
on the fireground, the changing location of fire fighters, and the location and status of the building’s occupants. Today, that
information is transmitted among responders using limited communication links, mostly radio, and there is a lack of data on
the extent and condition of the fire itself, including thermal conditions, the risk of flashover, the distribution of smoke, and
the existence of toxic gas species. This combination of factors motivates interest in new approaches to emergency response
to improve both situational awareness and decision making.
The current state of fire fighting and fire protection remains far from optimal despite efforts to exploit advances in
technology, equipment, training, and communications [4]. Fire losses in the United States remain too high, and fire fight-
ing is much too hazardous. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) estimates that the total annual cost of fire in
2011, including human and economic losses, costs of the fire service, built-in fire protection, and costs associated with the
insurance industry was about 330 billion dollars, or roughly 2 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product [5].

1.3  A Vision of Fire Protection and Fire Fighting in the Future

At the highest level, the overarching goal for Smart Fire Fighting is to remove unwanted fire and other harmful events as
a limitation to life safety, technical innovation, and economic prosperity. The vision to improve fire protection and fire
fighting is undertaken with the following motivations:
• To save lives and minimize injuries to building occupants and community members due to fire
• To improve fire fighter occupational health and safety
• To enhance the operational efficiency of the fire service and the effectiveness of fire protection
• To minimize property loss from fire
• To minimize business interruption and loss of mission continuity due to fire

1.3.1  Scope and Purpose of the Roadmap

In this report, the term “Smart Fire Fighting” refers to all areas of fire protection engineering and fire service emergency
response. All phases of these endeavors (i.e., pre-incident, during-incident, and post-incident) are addressed. The idea of
Smart Fire Fighting is to exploit fully the power of information to address the nation’s fire problems through enhanced data
gathering, data processing, and targeted communications. Smart Fire Fighting will transform traditional fire protection and
fire-fighting practices to ensure the flow of critical information where and when it is needed.
An evolving range of databases and sensor networks will be tapped to create, store, exchange, analyze, and integrate
information into critical knowledge for the purpose of Smart Fire Fighting. Engineering, developing, and deploying these
systems will require new measurement tools and standards. Information will come from many sources: from the community,
from building occupants, from the building itself, and from fire fighters. Data from the community could include informa-
tion about traffic, weather, police, and hospitals. Information from the building could include annotated computer-aided
design models or blueprints about the architecture, materials, and utilities, and details on fire-related building sensors and
equipment. Occupants might be able to provide information about the number, age, and condition of people in the building
and any relevant health issues. At the first indication of a fire incident, the IC could use information from these reposito-
ries to plan an initial strategy for suppression and rescue and alert the necessary community services. That strategy would
include the number and types of equipment and personnel needed at the fireground and the tactics that should be executed
when they arrive.
Once the equipment and personnel are on scene, a temporary wireless network could be set up, deploying a number of
different sensor technologies to obtain a comprehensive and accurate assessment of the evolving situation on the fireground.
The sensors and the network would continue to operate as needed throughout the entire event. This streaming, real-time
information would be transmitted to the IC, who would develop an operational plan as appropriate and issue commands

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 6 Chapter 1   Background and Vision

to personnel. Personnel would be equipped with a variety of sensors, providing real-time data about their own conditions,
their locations, the growth and spread of the fire, and suppression/rescue operations. The sensor-related data would come
in three possible forms: text, audio, and video. The IC would use computational tools to integrate this information and
update the operational plan as needed.
To update the operational plan, the IC would create and run a series of computational models of fire growth, smoke
generation, structural integrity, evacuation, suppression, ventilation, environmental conditions, air and water supply, tena-
bility, and resource allocation. Each of these models would access repository and sensor information as needed; integrate,
process, and analyze that information; and return predictions or results of other models, which then would provide inputs
for the IC to use in decision making. As additional real-time information is collected, it would automatically update the
models, outputs, and predictions.
The outputs and predictions from those models could be used in multiple ways. In some cases, such as fire growth,
the outputs and predictions could be sent directly to personnel at the fireground or to other community services. If the
model were to predict that the fire might spread into a portion of a building where toxic compounds are known to be stored,
the model could be integrated with a smoke-generation model and a weather model to predict the likely impact on the
surrounding community. That information then would be sent directly to law enforcement agencies and local hospitals to
enable planning for a potential evacuation and treatment of victims. In most cases, model outputs and predictions would
drive real-time 3D visualization of the fireground, equipment, and personnel. The IC would use the display to monitor the
evolution of the fire incident and to analyze the potential impact of decisions and actions before issuing any commands to
personnel. The visualization then would be recorded for future analysis, lessons learned, and training.

1.3.2  The Vision for Smart Fire Fighting

The Smart Fire Fighting vision includes the collection and integration of information from a wide range of databases and
sensor networks. It also includes computational tools to analyze that information to make predictions of fire growth, build-
ing performance, occupant evacuation, and fire suppression. The realization of this vision would allow fire departments to
coordinate better with other community services and fire fighters to execute fireground operations more effectively.
The vision of Smart Fire Fighting can be realized by harnessing the power of emerging information, communication,
sensor, and simulation technologies to enable markedly better situational awareness, predictive models, and decision mak-
ing. Many of the most exciting uses of those technologies are in the area of cyber-physical systems [6, 7]. See an example
of this process illustrated in Figure 1.1.

1.4  Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS)

From a historical perspective (see Figure 1.2), a major technology revolution is underway. The Industrial Revolution during
the 18th century spearheaded major advances in physical equipment, technologies, and systems. Then, during the second
half of the 20th century, the Internet Revolution led to fundamental advances in cyber hardware, software, and systems.
The most recent development, the Industrial Internet Revolution, is leading to innovative advances in cyber and physical
equipment, technologies, and systems. The Industrial Internet Revolution is leading to the Internet of Things (IoT), “big
data,” analytics, machine-to-machine communication, and a variety of sensors to acquire data, as well as new software to
analyze those data. Used together, the equipment and technologies form an infrastructure for the establishment of CPS.
CPS are being deployed in many sectors of society. The names are familiar and include the Smart Grid, Smart Homes,
Smart Cities, Smart Buildings, Smart Healthcare, Smart Manufacturing, Smart Warfare, Smart Transportation, and Smart
Infrastructure. CPS is transforming the way people interact with engineered systems, just as the Internet transformed the
way people interact with information.
Because of their potential benefits to society, CPS are now, according to The President’s Council of Advisors on Sci-
ence and Technology, a national priority for federal R&D and are considered a potential economic engine [8]. Two major
government agencies are promoting CPS: the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST). NSF is funding fundamental research in CPS through its Directorate for Computer and Information

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 1.4  Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) 7

Figure 1.1 Example of the Smart Fire Fighting process.

Figure 1.2  Historical perspective on technology development. (Source, far left: Shutterstock, Kuznetsov Alexey)

Physical Cyber Cyber Physical

Systems Systems Systems

Inter-Jurisdiction

Fireground Incident Command

Team/Unit

Personal Area Network

Industrial Revolution Internet Revolution Industrial Internet Revolution

1700 1900 1950 2000

YEAR
(not to scale)

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