Patterns of Urban Fire Occurence in Iasi City (Romania)

Abstract

Fire incidents are a problem of major importance for cities, as they affect the lives of a large population and produce significant material damages. Assessing the temporal and spatial distribution of fires is an important stage in order to efficiently manage this issue. Using a comprehensive database for a five year period, the present study tries to identify certain patterns and specificities by analyzing the occurrence of urban fires, grouped by their main causes and damages, at different time scale and integrating the information from street level to urban district and, finally, at city level. The spatial distribution of the number of fires follows the center-periphery model, overlapping the neighborhoods with multiple functions (residential, administrative and cultural). The industrial area also concentrates a bigger number of fires, these brownfields being used by homeless population which make use of garbage as fire material. Applying the location quotient was an opportunity to highlight cross-scale the concentration of fires and revealed that the neighborhoods located at the periphery are more vulnerable to fires. The results can be used for further, more comprehensive studies of urban fire risk assessment and can also became the basis for (re)configuring the emergency services, in particular, and urban planning, in general.

An analysis of Spatio–temporal patterns of fires in an Iranian city

“…Tuesday is often a rubbish collection day by the municipal council, which might be linked to cases where fires are deliberately (arson or vandalistic) lit to help dispose household rubbish from streets. Similar to results of Agbola and Falola in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria, 36 Bulai, Roşu and Bănică in Romania 9 and Balahadia and Trillanes, the Philippines, 37 according to this study, summer has the highest number of fire incidents, which could be associated with school holidays and peak tourism sessions. Fires in this season generally occur in parks and 24-hours open spaces and are often deliberate, such as the burning of bushes, fires in garbage bins and other dry materials such as twigs/branches found in parks.…”

“…These findings are consistent with those established by Yao and Zhang in China, 20 Agbola and Falola, 36 in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria, Singh, Sabnani and Kapse in India 12 and Bulai, Roşu, and Bănică in Romania. 9 While the spatial distribution of arsons and vandalism-mediated fires is sporadic, fire incidents caused by children are concentrated in the central regions of the city. Fire incidents in administrative and public spaces are more concentrated in the central regions; while workshop and warehouse-related fires are more segregated in the outer industrial areas of the city.…”

“…The rate of fire events increases significantly during the warm months of the year. A study by Bulai, Roşu and Bănică 9 in Iasi, Romania, found that fires in residential dwellings were higher than in other establishments. Factors such as electronics failures and arson were important factors, and most incidents occurred during the summer months.…”

“…5 Spatial and temporal patterns of urban fires vary in response to differences in dwelling structure, age and density, land use and quality and maintenance of electrical installations. [6][7][8][9][10][11] Other factors contributing to fire risk include the ageing population, people with disabilities, families with young children, 9,12 education levels [13][14][15] and economic disadvantage. [10][11][12][13]16 Furthermore, intentional arson in public spaces and cooking carelessness and smoking habit are other factors that affect fire risk.…”

The Influence of Urban Climate on Bioclimatic Conditions in the City of Iași, Romania

“…The urban population density decreased by 12.7% from 2006 to 2012 [38], due to the migration in the newly residential areas surrounding the city. Most of the population (74.3%) lives in multifamily residential buildings (apartments mostly) where approximately 260,000 inhabitants live in 2673 buildings [39]. In recent years, the city of Ias , i has maintained most of its green spaces in its inner city [37].…”