Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

On April 4, 1984 a fire occurred at the Science and Technology Center of Osaka. The building was a typical multi-purpose office building which contained the office of various learned societies whose occupants were regular users of the building, and assembly halls used by people less familiar with the premises. The purpose of this study is to form a basis for future guidelines for the evacuation of multi-purpose buildings, a building type which has become increasingly common in recent years. Our research group conducted a survey of people who were in the Center at the time of the fire using a questionnaire, and obtained detailed information about the fire and the various actions the evacuees took. On the basis of our survey we sought to analyze the characteristics of the evacuees, their reactions to spatial conditions during the evacuation, and how they experienced the sequence of events throughout the emergency. An important result of our analysis that emerged very dramatically was the difference between regular users of the building and those less familiar with it. The differences were; action upon becoming aware of the fire, criterion for selecting escape routes, and ability to effectively reach an exit.