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Fires have the potential to destroy, resulting in the loss of property and livelihoods, as well as injury, death and repeated trauma for those who are already vulnerable. However, fire as a hazard has been treated rigidly and un-critically, a model that has influenced how it is perceived by policy makers, first responders, engineers and academics and subsequently approaches to implementing and better understanding fire prevention, mitigation, response and recovery from the impacts of fire.

This article deals with fire, arguing that its case can help imagine what liberation might mean within and for disaster studies. The study argues against dogmatic, outdated, technological and solution-focused perspectives that have constrained how fire and its effects are understood and discuss what disciplinary liberation could mean for the study of fire and its integration within DRR. The study’s approach is based on the DRR Assemblage Theory, which points to fire as an issue at a societal level.

The study explores the themes of fire and liberation through contributions and insights that have emerged through the authors' professional experience in research and practice. It offers an original and timely engagement with disaster studies through the lens of fire, an increasingly pertinent phenomenon for disaster scholars and practitioners alike.

By drawing on the example of fire as a socio-technical-environmental phenomenon, this paper contributes a novel perspective on the intellectual and practical possibilities that can emerge from disciplinary liberation.

In the event of a disaster, educational institutions like schools serve as lifeline buildings. Hence, it is crucial to safeguard these buildings for the communities that may depend on the school as a disaster shelter and aid center. Thus, this paper aims to conduct a multihazard risk assessment survey at 50 schools (with 246 building blocks) in Dehradun.

The past few decades have witnessed the impact of multihazard frequency in Uttarakhand, India, due to the geographical features of the Himalayas and its neo-tectonic mountain-building process. Dehradun is the capital of Uttarakhand state and comes under seismic zone IV, which is highly prone to earthquakes.

The hazard assessment is divided into two types of surveys: first, building-level surveys that include rapid visual screening, nonstructural risk assessment and fire safety audit, and second, campus-level surveys that include vulnerability analysis for earthquake, flood, industrial hazard, landslide and wind.

This paper will list several gaps and unrecognized practices in the region that increase the schools’ multihazard risk. The study’s outcome will help prioritize the planning of disaster awareness, retrofitting execution, future construction practices and decision-making to minimize the risk and prepare the school for the upcoming disasters.

Physical data were collected by the author to determine the multihazard risk analysis in 50 schools in the Dehradun District of Uttarakhand, India. The building- and campus-level surveys have been used to generate a database for the retrofit and renovation process for each individual school to use their budget fruitfully and in a planned way. The survey conducted is more effort and a more detailed risk evaluation which necessitates effectively mitigating and ensuring the potential safety of the region’s schools.

Community centers play a socio-economic and urban role of combining different communal necessities, that serve inhabitants, at different neighborhoods in cities. Their role emerged in importance as being a hub for improving and customizing quality of life experiences of the public. This research presents a code-based risk assessment tool for evaluating fire safety measures that can be adapted in the context of community centers. It also provides an exemplary case study to demonstrate its application.

The study identified the factors that render community centers as a high-risk type of facilities in fire events. Various fire codes and standards were reviewed to describe the relevant fire safety measures. A code-based fire risk assessment tool was developed and implemented, through a case study. A set of recommendations were developed to improve the fire safety conditions of the case study facility.

Several violations to fire safety were identified in the case study building. The findings led to identifying a set of recommendations to improve its fire safety conditions.

This research introduced a systematic approach to raise awareness about fire incidences and consequences in community centers, and provides facilities managers with a tool, to assess compliance based on international fire code requirements.

In fire events, community centers are considered as high-risk facilities that may lead to significant losses of human lives and damages to assets. It is significant to study the causes of fire, for ensuring effective prevention and safe operations.

The rapid development of urban areas in Sleman District, Indonesia, has created new challenges for firefighting response services. One of the primary challenges is to identify the optimal locations for new fire stations, to improve service quality and maximize service coverage within the specified time.

This paper proposes a method for precisely calculating travel time that integrates delay time caused by traffic lights, intersections and congestion. The study highlights the importance of precise calculation of travel time in order to provide a more accurate understanding of the service area covered by the fire stations. The proposed method utilizes network analysis in ArcGIS, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and simple additive weighting (SAW) to accurately calculate travel time and to identify the best locations for new fire stations. The identification of new site was based on service safety, service quality, service costs and demographic factors and applied to the Sleman district in Indonesia.

The results showed that the total area covered by old and new fire stations decreased from 61% to 31.8% of the study area when the adjusted default speed scenario was implemented.

The results indicated that the default speed scenario could provide misleading information about the service area, while the adjusted default speed scenario improved service quality and maximized service coverage.

The proposed method provides decision-makers with an effective tool to make informed decisions on optimal locations for new fire stations and thus enhance emergency response and public safety.

The extreme nature of fire makes structural fire engineering unique in that the load actions dictating design are intense and neither geographically nor seasonally bound. Simply, fire can break out anywhere, at any time and for any number of reasons. Despite the apparent need, the fire design of structures still relies on expensive fire tests, complex finite element simulations and outdated procedures with little room for innovation. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned issues.

This primer highlights the latest state of the art in this area with regard to performance-based design in fire structural engineering. In addition, this short review also presents a series of examples of successful implementation of performance-based fire design of structures from around the world.

A comparison between global efforts clearly shows the advances put forth by European and Oceanian efforts as opposed to the rest of the world. In addition, it can be clearly seen that most performance-based fire designs are related to steel and composite structures.

In one study, this paper presents a concise and global view to performance-based fire design of structures from success stories from around the world.

The need to digitise is an awareness that is shared across our community globally, and yet the probability of the intersection between resources, expertise and institutions are not as prospective. A strategic view towards the long-term goal of cultivating and digitally upskilling the younger generation, building a community and creating awareness with digital activities that can be beneficial for cultural heritage is necessary.

The work involves distributing tasks between stakeholders and local volunteers. It uses close-range photogrammetry for reconstructing the entire heritage site in 3D, and outlines achievable digitisation activities in the crowdsourced, close-range photogrammetry of a 19th century Cheah Kongsi clan temple located in George Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Penang, Malaysia.

The research explores whether loosely distributing photogrammetry work that partially simulates an unorganised crowdsourcing activity can generate complete models of a site that meets the criteria set by the needs of the clan temple. The data acquired were able to provide a complete visual record of the site, but the 3D models that was generated through the distributed task revealed gaps that needed further measurements.

Key lessons learned in this activity is transferable. Furthermore, the involvement of volunteers can also raise awareness of ownership, identity and care for local cultural heritage.

Key lessons learned in this activity is transferable. Furthermore, the involvement of volunteers can also raise awareness of identity, ownership, cultural understanding, and care for local cultural heritage.

The value of semi-formal activities indicated that set goals can be achieved through crowdsourcing and that the new generation can be taught both to care for their heritage, and that the transfer of digital skills is made possible through such activities. The mass crowdsourcing activity is the first of its kind that attempts to completely digitise a cultural heritage site in 3D via distributed activities.

The purpose of this study is to explore and present a clear overview of innovation topics during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then organise these topics into various analyses.

The authors use multiple language analysis methods, such as text mining and latent Dirichlet allocation topic modelling, to address the research questions. A total of 440 news articles are analysed using Python and Google Colaboratory tools.

The analysis identified 20 innovation topics, highlighted sector-specific analyses and proposed phases of innovation. The authors suggest that each sector develops unique patterns and forms of innovation for long-term benefits and further research. This study expands upon existing literature on innovation and crisis at a theoretical level by incorporating an actor as the agency.

Based on the findings, the authors conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted businesses to adopt dynamic capabilities. Furthermore, the authors provide several strategic recommendations for addressing the pandemic in the developing context. The study discusses the roles of policymakers, business practitioners and academia in this context as well.

Very few studies specifically explore and identify forced innovation topics in emerging countries during the pandemic. There has been no review of forced innovations implemented in Indonesia using news media as a source. Additionally, this study presents the trajectory of innovation during the time of crises.

This brief is designed to inform disaster risk reduction and management in Philippine jails and prisons. It draws upon research conducted in nine jails and prisons between July 2015 and January 2016. This research included 44 interviews with stakeholders, including inmates and prisoners, and nine focus groups with inmates and prisoners in different regions of the country. The research indicates that natural hazards are one amongst the many threats that inmates and prisoners face in their everyday life. Natural hazards are significant because inmates and prisoners are particularly vulnerable. Inmates' and prisoners' vulnerability stems from a thread of proximate and root causes that range from insalubrious and overcrowded facilities and limited resourcing from the government, to the neoliberal nature of the Philippine state. However, inmates and prisoners are not helpless “victims” in dealing with natural hazards. They display a wide range of skills, resources and knowledge (i.e. capacities) that are grounded in everyday practices and values reflective of the broader Philippine society. This policy brief finally makes some recommendations for strengthening hazard prevention, fostering vulnerability mitigation, enhancing preparedness, and reinforcing disaster management in Philippine jails and prisons. These recommendations emphasise the contributions of a number of stakeholders, including the active role of inmates and prisoners who are the first line of defence in facing disasters in jails and prisons.

In this chapter, Jared Thomas, a Nukunu person from the Southern Flinders Ranges and a Research Fellow at the South Australian Museum and University of South Australia, reflects on his efforts to enhance the Fire Exhibit within the Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery [AACG], which has not been updated in 20 years. Thomas draws from an international precedent of involving Indigenous communities in museum displays.

The author outlines the limitations of renovations in terms of budget, space, and Indigenous protocols, while considering the potential impact of the proposed Tarrkarri Centre for First Nations Culture. He emphasises the importance of fostering relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples, allowing Indigenous voices to speak for themselves.

Thomas focusses on the Fire Exhibit, discussing its significance in Aboriginal culture, the lack of contextualisation, and the need for improved representation. He proposes short-term actions such as adding QR-code-based text for context, and long-term ambitions like incorporating audio-visual and augmented reality elements. He highlights the importance of Aboriginal fire land management practices, especially in the aftermath of the 2019 Australian bushfires.

Thomas proposes strengthening the exhibit’s connection to foods, medicines, and fixatives that benefit from cultural burning. He envisions collaboration with the Adelaide Botanic Gardens and acknowledges the resource constraints faced by the museum. He concludes by envisioning a template for extending improvements across the museum and fostering better understanding and representation of Aboriginal culture.

Reducing fatalities and increasing the number of students able to remain safe during an active shooter event is paramount to the health and well-being of schools and communities. Yet, methodological limitations and ethical concerns have restricted prior research on security measures during school shooter lockdown drills. This study aims to fill that gap by using virtual reality (VR) to statistically examine the effectiveness of active shooter response protocols in a simulated high school.

Using a full factorial, within-subjects experimental design, this exploratory investigation used VR technology to investigate whether automatic classroom door locks, centralized lockdown notifications and the presence of a school resource officer (SRO) significantly impacted student safety and casualty mitigation. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 37 individuals who volunteered to participate in 24 school shooter scenarios within a simulated virtual environment.

Multiple one-way analysis of variances indicated significant main effects for automatic classroom door locks and SRO presence. Automatic locks yielded faster lockdown response times, and both factors were significantly associated with higher numbers of secured classrooms.

Findings from the current study address the gap in existing literature regarding evidence-based school safety protocols and provide recommendations for using VR simulations to increase preparedness and reduce fatalities during an active school shooter event.