Uncordinated egress

An experiment

Wagner Alberto de Moraes
Santa Catarina Military Fire Department

Content

The Kiss nightclub tragedy

  • 27th January 2013, Santa Maria, Brazil
  • fireworks on flammable sound insulation
  • obstacles, bad signaling and inappropriate doors
  • doors blocked by people
  • result: 242 deaths

boate-kiss

Lessons Learned

  • later on 2013, Santa Catarina Military Fire Department launched new fire safety code
  • requirements for nightclubs:
    • fireworks prohibited
    • flammable insulation prohibited
    • population density up to 2/m²
    • doors width calculated for allowed population
  • Problem: are the calculus safe for an uncoordinated egress?

Uncoordinated Egress Model

  • “Simulating Dynamical Features of Escape Panic.” by Helbing, Farkas, and Vicsek (Nature 407):
    • people move faster and start pushing
    • moving becomes uncoordinated (turbulence)
    • arching and clogging at exits
    • jams build up, pressures become dangerous
    • escape is further slowed by fallen or injured people
    • people show a tendency towards mass behaviour;
    • alternative exits are often overlooked or not efficiently used.

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“Panic Package”

kiss_1000_335

Experiment

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esquemaExperimento_02

Videos

3cameras

https://​youtu.​be/​E2WNhcgIzuQ

Arch

blockage02

Crowd Turbulence

turbulencia

https://​youtu.​be/​h72-​I5E96uU

Egress time and flow

experiment IN 09
uncoordinated egress coordinated egress
initial time mean flow time mean flow
population s s-1 s s-1
35 6.41 5.46 10.50 3,33
70 17.25 4.06 21.00 3,33
105 26.95 3.90 31.50 3,33
140 36.61 3.82 42.00 3,33
175 54.55 3.19 52.50 3,33
210 73.26 2.87 63.00 3,33
280 85.00 3.29 84.00 3,33
Table 1. Egress time and mean flow versus population

Simulation Results

  • Experiment versus Simulation: 35 or 0.5/m² exp_sim_35
  • Experiment versus Simulation: 70 or 1.0/m² exp_sim_70
  • Experiment versus Simulation: 105 or 1.5/m² exp_sim_105
  • Experiment versus Simulation: 140 or 2.0/m² exp_sim_140
  • Experiment versus Simulation: 175 or 2.5/m² exp_sim_175
  • Experiment versus Simulation: 210 or 3.0/m² exp_sim_210
  • Experiment versus Simulation: 280 or 4.0/m² exp_sim_280

Kiss simulations

all_sim

Conclusion

  • Uncoordinated egress experiment
    • arches and turbulence were observed
    • the greater the crowd the lower the egress flow rate
    • when crowd stops pushing, flow increase
  • Simulation
    • although simplified, model fits experiment
    • door width applicable in Santa Catarina is safe