This article reviews and discusses the behaviours and patterns associated with panic evacuations, as documented in the literature, which must be considered when analysing and modelling such events. This article does not take the form of a typical research article but, rather, a review of previous studies alongside its own commentary. The studies analysed in this article were selected according their ability to provide a new perspective. Where possible, diverse perspectives from existing research have been contrasted with the author’s own observations and reflections. Structured as an overview, this article introduces subsequent analyses and highlights several non-intuitive questions that arose during the investigation. This study examines the relationship between movement velocity and crowd density, comparing experimental data with simulations conducted to date. It also explores the connections between flow rate, crowd density, and velocity and suggests potential directions for further research in this field. Additionally, this article addresses the loss of evacuation coordination under crowding conditions and presents studies that demonstrate optimal evacuation at speeds that differ from the so-called comfortable pace. The positive effects of strategically placed obstacles in reducing congestion and improving evacuation times are also analysed. This literature review is conducted from a practical perspective, with the primary aim of deepening our understanding of panic evacuation phenomena. Furthermore, this article categorises the impact of various phenomena associated with stampedes and panic evacuations on the requirements for safe evacuation. A tabular summary of the technical and structural measures for evacuation is provided, which may prove useful in designing effective evacuation strategies when dealing with heightened emotional states among evacuees.

The distribution of mass and the number of particles is a determining factor in the respirable nature of a given particulate matter (PM), and thus in the potential health effects of breathing the air in question. One of the most popular activities during the summer months is the preparation of food on a barbecue. Barbecuing represents one of the few sources of combustion particulates during the summer, a period which is otherwise characterised by a lack of heating. The objective of this study is to ascertain the fractional composition of PM emitted during food preparation on an electric barbecue and to compare these values with the measured background. The concentrations of particulate matter (PM) at the barbecue were determined with a Palas AQ Guard optical spectrometer, while the background concentrations were measured with a Palas Fidas 200 optical spectrometer that complies with the EN16450 standard. The contribution of the individual PM fractions measured in the barbecue environment differed from that observed in the ambient air. The background measurements exhibited a relatively well-defined and consistent distribution, with the PM₁ fraction representing between 10 and 30% of the PM mass and the PM₄₋₁ fraction accounting for only 10 to 20%. Thus, the mass of the PM₄ fraction did not exceed 50% of the total mass of particles. Upon analysis of the particles emitted during the grilling process, it was observed that the PM₁ fraction was capable of accounting for a substantial proportion, exceeding 90% of the PM mass. The trend related to the PM₄₋₁ fraction was maintained; however, the limit of the maximum content of this fraction increased to 40% of the PM. The results demonstrate that the barbecue process itself, utilising a barbecue without emission fuel, can exert a notable influence on the contribution of submicron PM.

Polish construction law and technical and building regulations allow for deviations from the requirements with appropriate alternative solutions. Modern buildings often require an individual approach due to the fact that the current regulations do not keep up with the constantly emerging modern technical solutions. This requires the development of engineering design documentation in the form of a technical opinion on the state of fire protection, prepared by building and fire protection experts. This documentation, previously agreed with the locally competent Regional Fire Chief of the State Fire Service, is submitted through the local building authority to the Minister responsible for construction issues. The subject of the article is the development of a justified set of alternative solutions for a warehouse building equipped with pick tower racks. Modern computer methods, simulations of evacuation, smoke extraction and construction were used to justify the solutions used. Determination of the mutual influence of the applied solutions on the expected level of fire safety allowed to confirm the validity of the adopted design concept. As a result, a complete fire protection concept was obtained, which, after its application to the documentation of the construction project, will allow safe use of the building. The analyzed building was implemented in Poland and, using the described fire safety concept, passed all stages of the investment process.

This article reviews and discusses the behaviours and patterns associated with panic evacuations, as documented in the literature, which must be considered when analysing and modelling such events. Where possible, diverse perspectives from existing research have been contrasted with the author’s own observations and reflections. Structured as an overview, the article introduces subsequent analyses and highlights several non-intuitive questions that arise during the investigation. The study examines the relationship between movement velocity and crowd density, comparing experimental data with simulations conducted to date. It explores the connections between flow rate, crowd density, and ve-locity, and suggests potential directions for further research in this field. Additionally, the article addresses the loss of evacuation coordination under crowding conditions and pre-sents studies that demonstrate optimal evacuation at speeds that differ from the so-called comfortable pace. The positive effects of strategically placed obstacles in reducing conges-tion and improving evacuation times are also analysed. This literature review is conduct-ed from a practical perspective, with the primary aim of deepening our understanding of panic evacuation phenomena. Furthermore, the article categorises the impact of various phenomena associated with stampedes and panic evacuations on the requirements for safe evacuation. A tabular summary of the technical and structural measures for evacua-tion is provided, which may prove useful in designing effective evacuation strategies when dealing with heightened emotional states among evacuees.

Building law allows the use of a building that is non-compliant with fire safety regulations, provided that enhanced fire exit strategies are implemented to mitigate the negative impact of this non-compliance on fire safety. This article demonstrates the potential of using a probabilistic fire risk analysis method—multisimulation—to increase the efficiency of selecting fire exit strategies. Multisimulation is a quantitative risk analysis method that utilizes, among other things, computer models of fire development and evacuation, as well as modern mathematics and computer science. The main aim of multisimulation is to perform multiple computer simulations (hence the name) for as many fire scenarios as possible in a given building. This article demonstrates the potential of using this method in a practical approach to ensuring fire safety. For this purpose, an existing auditorium building was analyzed, in which numerous non-compliances with applicable regulations were identified. The analysis included 1000 fire and evacuation simulations in a theater auditorium equipped with two emergency exits and 1000 fire and evacuation simulations in a theater auditorium equipped with three emergency exits. In the simulations of both scenarios, the duration of a performance conducted with a full audience and people performing on stage was modelled. The results clearly demonstrated a significant improvement in safety when three emergency exits were available. In terms of both the required safe egress time (RSET) and risk analyses, when three emergency exits were available (instead of the required two), the possibility of having only one functioning exit, which may occur due to a human error, was eliminated. Therefore, it was undoubtedly confirmed that the use of a third emergency exit is justified as an optimal fire exit strategy or a future legislative requirement.

Crowd evacuation from confined spaces is a complex fire safety engineering problem, involving interactions between human behavior, crowd dynamics, building geometry, and the availability of escape routes. This monograph provides a comprehensive analysis of the physical and behavioral mechanisms governing crowd evacuation, with particular emphasis on heightened emotional states and the resilience of evacuation systems. The presented research examines the impact of occupant speed, crowd density, bottleneck geometry, fatigue, and emotional state on evacuation effectiveness. Particular attention is paid to phenomena such as stop-and-go waves and blocking pile formation, which can impede movement and increase the risk of casualties. Original experimental studies examine crowd flow through bottlenecks under various behavioral states, demonstrating the relationship between occupant behavior and evacuation effectiveness. The monograph also reviews microscopic, macroscopic, and mesoscopic approaches to evacuation modeling and examines the adequacy of existing regulatory requirements. Next, agent-based modeling was used in a probabilistic multisimulation analysis to investigate the impact of additional emergency exits on evacuation efficiency. Accounting for variability and uncertainty in evacuation parameters, the analysis assessed evacuation time, occupant exposure to hazardous fire conditions, and the occurrence of unfavorable evacuation scenarios. The results demonstrate that increasing emergency exit redundancy can improve evacuation efficiency and increase system resilience under adverse conditions. Although the analyzed configurations met established safety criteria, the additional exit shortened evacuation time, reduced exposure to hazardous conditions, and mitigated the negative impacts associated with prolonged evacuation. These observations provide a scientific basis for considering resilience-oriented improvements in evacuation system design requirements and support the application of probabilistic risk assessment in fire safety engineering.