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  • © 2019

SFPE Guide to Human Behavior in Fire

  • Singular resource for the fire safety community offers sound understanding of human behavior during emergencies

  • Consensus-based resource developed from the work of the leading researchers throughout the world

  • Identifies both quantitative and qualitative information that constitutes important considerations prior to developing safety factors, exercising engineering judgment, and using evacuation models in the practical design of buildings and evacuation procedures

  • Thoroughly updated and expanded, this Second Edition includes new information on:

  • Incapacitating Effects of Fire Effluent & Toxicity Analysis Methods

  • Occupant Behavioral Scenarios

  • Movement Models and Behavioral Models

  • Egress Model Selection, Verification, and Validation

  • Estimation of Uncertainty and Use of Safety Factors

  • Enhancing Human Response to Emergency Notification and Messaging

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  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
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Hardcover Book USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
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  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiv
  2. Introduction

    • Society of Fire Protection Engineers
    Pages 1-2
  3. Integrating Human Behavior Factors into Design

    • Society of Fire Protection Engineers
    Pages 3-11
  4. Understanding Human Behavior in Fires

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 13-13
    2. Population Characteristics

      • Society of Fire Protection Engineers
      Pages 15-19
    3. Occupant Behavior Concepts: Cues, Decisions and Actions

      • Society of Fire Protection Engineers
      Pages 21-39
    4. Effects of Fire Effluent

      • Society of Fire Protection Engineers
      Pages 41-47
  5. Modelling Human Behavior in Fire

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 49-49
    2. Development and Selection of Occupant Behavioral Scenarios

      • Society of Fire Protection Engineers
      Pages 51-56
    3. Calculation of Effects of Fire Effluent

      • Society of Fire Protection Engineers
      Pages 57-72
    4. Physical Movement Concepts

      • Society of Fire Protection Engineers
      Pages 73-83
    5. Egress Model Selection

      • Society of Fire Protection Engineers
      Pages 85-95
    6. Egress Model Testing

      • Society of Fire Protection Engineers
      Pages 97-113
    7. Estimation of Uncertainty and Safety Factors

      • Society of Fire Protection Engineers
      Pages 115-120
  6. Fire Situation Management

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 121-121
    2. Enhancing Human Response to Emergency Notification and Messaging

      • Society of Fire Protection Engineers
      Pages 123-130
    3. Managing the Movement of Building Occupants

      • Society of Fire Protection Engineers
      Pages 131-147
  7. Back Matter

    Pages 149-159

About this book

This single resource for the fire safety community distills the most relevant and useful science and research into a consensus-based guide whose key factors and considerations impact the response and behavior of occupants of a building during a fire event.

The Second Edition of SFPE's Engineering Guide: Human Behavior in Fire provides a common introduction to this field for the broad fire safety community: fire protection engineers/fire safety engineers, human behavior scientists/researchers, design professionals, and code authorities. The public benefits from consistent understanding of the factors that influence the responses and behaviors of people when threatened by fire and the application of reliable methodologies to evaluate and estimate human response in buildings and structures.


This Guide also aims to lessen the uncertainties in the "people components" of fire safety and allow for more refined analysis with less reliance on arbitrary safety factors. As with fire science in general, our knowledge of human behavior in fire is growing, but is still characterized by uncertainties that are traceable to both limitation in the science and unfamiliarity by the user communities. The concepts for development of evacuation scenarios for performance-based designs and the technical methods to estimate evacuation response are reviewed with consideration to the limitation and uncertainty of the methods. This Guide identifies both quantitative and qualitative information that constitutes important consideration prior to developing safety factors, exercising engineering judgment, and using evacuation models in the practical design of buildings and evacuation procedures. Besides updating material in the First Edition, this revision includes new information on:
  • Incapacitating Effects of Fire Effluent & Toxicity Analysis Methods
  • Occupant Behavior Scnearios
  • Movement Models and Behavioral Models
  • Egress Model Selection, Verification, and Validation
  • Estimation of Uncertainty and Use of Safety Factors
  • Enhancing Human Response to Emergencies & Notification of Messaging
The prediction of human behavior during a fire emergency is one of the most challenging areas of fire protection engineering. Yet, understanding and considering human factors is essential to designing effective evacuation systems, ensuring safety during a fire and related emergency events, and accurately reconstructing a fire.


Authors and Affiliations

  • Society of Fire Protection Engineers, Gaithersburg, USA

    Society of Fire Protection Engineers

About the author

The SFPE Task Group on Human Behavior in Fire consists of the leading researchers on the topic, from academia, industry, and government.



The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) is the professional society representing those practicing the field of fire protection engineering. The Society has over 4,600 members and 92 chapters, including 17 student chapters worldwide.

The purpose of SFPE is to advance the science and practice of fire protection engineering and its allied fields, to maintain a high ethical standard among its members and to foster fire protection engineering education.


Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access