Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

A fire in the cab of a train that resulted in extensive damage initiated a study into the impact of driver decisions on fire outcomes. Interactions between the driver and the fire were investigated for different fire growth rates. Scenarios analysed included the driver opening and closing doors and windows. Controls and design methods used in conventional fire engineering and risk assessment address only a small part of the picture of risk from fire in trains. A comprehensive range of controls and interacting factors should be considered if catastrophic consequences are to be avoided. Using interactive fire modelling, the study illustrates the importance of one element of control, that of the decisions made by the driver, which can change the outcome from a well controlled situation to an uncontrolled and catastrophic one