High-rise buildings (HRBs) are prone to high fire hazards due to their high occupant density, limited evacuation routes, and high fire load. The indicator system method, as a systematic evaluation method, is widely applied to assess HRB fire risk. However, the method is subjective because the determination of the indicator weights mainly relies on expert experience. In order to reduce the subjectivity of the indicator system method in assessing the fire risk of HRBs, this study proposes a new assessment method by combining the spatial Markov chain model and the indicator system method. In this new method, fire occurrence probability is calculated by the spatial Markov chain model using historical HRB fire accident data. An indicator system is built to characterize the fire consequence by the structure entropy weight method. Subsequently, HRBs in Beijing are used as a case to illustrate the practicality of this approach. Firstly, the spatial Markov chain model is trained and validated using the chi-square goodness-of-fit test based on fire accident data from 2018 to 2023 in Beijing. It was found that the best performance was achieved with the monthly period and the four-state. Then, the distribution of regional fire occurrence probability in April was predicted based on fire accident data in March 2023 in Beijing. It showed that areas with higher fire occurrence probability are mainly located in the central region, especially in the I District. Then, the indicator system was used to evaluate the HRB fire consequence in the I District. The assessment results showed that the areas with more severe fire consequences are mainly located in the II and IV Districts, due to the poor performance of the fire system or the absence of fire protection systems. Coupling the fire occurrence probability and its consequences shows that HRBs with higher fire risk are mainly located in area II and should be carefully supervised for fire management. This developed method can provide some insights into the fire safety management of HRBs and the layout of the fire stations.

Elucidating the characteristics of continuous oil spill fires for different slope conditions can provide important theoretical support for the prevention of, and rescue strategies during, oil spill fire accidents. For this research, we conducted experiments to observe the spread and burning process of continuous oil spill fires under different slope conditions. The changes in physical attributes, such as flame spread rate, burning rate, heat convection at the bottom surface, and flame feedback radiation, were analyzed for the different slope conditions. The results showed that the shrinking phase becomes difficult to see, and the steady phase disappears when the slope increases in the spread and burning process. When the slope increases, the spread speed and spread area increase, and burning rate decreases. Compared with a non-burning process, the resistance to spread decreases in the burning process. We show that the slope directly affects the spreading process, and indirectly affects the burning process.

Building-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) systems, which seamlessly integrate solar photovoltaic components into building structures, have garnered widespread attention for their aesthetic appeal and energy efficiency. However, the promotion of BIPV systems has also raised new fire safety concerns. This paper reviews recent fire incident cases and conducts risk identification for factors such as building and environmental risks, photovoltaic systems, electrical equipment, and safety protection. A fire risk assessment is performed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate the overall fire safety of BIPV systems. Based on the assessment, corresponding safety design strategies are proposed to ensure the safety of buildings and occupants. The research results indicate that BIPV systems pose certain fire hazards, and that proper design and regulation are crucial to mitigate these risks.

Single-ended tunnels are a typical structure and an important part during tunnel construction. In the case of a fire in a single-ended tunnel, forced ventilation is commonly used to create a safe area near the excavation face. This work is aimed at examining the effects of fire location and air volume on fire development for single-ended tunnel fires with forced ventilation. A single-ended tunnel was built in Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), and twenty simulation tests were carried out. In the simulation, the distribution of flow field, temperature, and CO concentration in the tunnel were measured and analyzed. The results show that three regions can be identified based on airflow directions and velocity: (1) turbulent flow zone, (2) turbulent flow transition zone, and (3) steady flow zone. It was found that the maximum ceiling temperature rise decreases first with the distance between the fire source and the excavation face (X_L), and then increases with a further increase in X_L. The simulation results also showed that CO can easily accumulate on the ventilation duct side at the fire source position and the opposite side of the ventilation duct 5.0–15.0 m downstream of the fire source. Both the CO concentration and the maximum ceiling temperature rise decrease with increasing air volume, while the larger forced air volume will result in a higher risk for the downstream regions. The present results are of practical importance in firefighting and personnel evacuation in single-ended tunnels with a forced ventilation system.