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Gaps in Human Behaviour in Fires Research : A Scoping Review

Kinkel, Erica ; van der Wal, C. Natalie ; Ronchi, Enrico LU orcid and Kuligowski, Erica D. (2025) In Fire Technology
Abstract

When developing a research roadmap for human behaviour in fires, it is necessary to identify areas that require additional research. A general overview – from a multidisciplinary perspective – of gaps in human behaviour in fires research across multiple contexts is missing. The goal of this paper was to perform a scoping review to identify research gaps and themes in all aspects of human behaviour in fires across contexts. This scoping review included 17 articles. In total, 37 research gaps and 11 research themes for the built environment and community context were identified. The main research gaps are related to cognitive factors, behavioural responses, environmental factors and physical/physiological factors. Also, for all research... (More)

When developing a research roadmap for human behaviour in fires, it is necessary to identify areas that require additional research. A general overview – from a multidisciplinary perspective – of gaps in human behaviour in fires research across multiple contexts is missing. The goal of this paper was to perform a scoping review to identify research gaps and themes in all aspects of human behaviour in fires across contexts. This scoping review included 17 articles. In total, 37 research gaps and 11 research themes for the built environment and community context were identified. The main research gaps are related to cognitive factors, behavioural responses, environmental factors and physical/physiological factors. Also, for all research themes, additional research involving heterogenous populations is required. Furthermore, there is an imbalance in human behaviour in fires studies: most articles were focused on the built environment rather than the community context. Finally, the topic of intoxication has received limited research attention, and data collection methods lack diversity. Future research should not only be done from a multidisciplinary perspective but also interdisciplinary research efforts are required. The availability of more data and knowledge on human behaviour and responses in fires could be beneficial to simulation model developers/users, the general public and fire safety managers.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
Built environment, Community context, Evacuation, Fires, Human behaviour, Scoping review
in
Fire Technology
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:105015407356
ISSN
0015-2684
DOI
10.1007/s10694-025-01781-3
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
854f3cd2-acd3-47b3-80e0-f527b021deb9
date added to LUP
2025-11-13 15:28:48
date last changed
2025-11-14 07:35:06
@article{854f3cd2-acd3-47b3-80e0-f527b021deb9,
  abstract     = {{<p>When developing a research roadmap for human behaviour in fires, it is necessary to identify areas that require additional research. A general overview – from a multidisciplinary perspective – of gaps in human behaviour in fires research across multiple contexts is missing. The goal of this paper was to perform a scoping review to identify research gaps and themes in all aspects of human behaviour in fires across contexts. This scoping review included 17 articles. In total, 37 research gaps and 11 research themes for the built environment and community context were identified. The main research gaps are related to cognitive factors, behavioural responses, environmental factors and physical/physiological factors. Also, for all research themes, additional research involving heterogenous populations is required. Furthermore, there is an imbalance in human behaviour in fires studies: most articles were focused on the built environment rather than the community context. Finally, the topic of intoxication has received limited research attention, and data collection methods lack diversity. Future research should not only be done from a multidisciplinary perspective but also interdisciplinary research efforts are required. The availability of more data and knowledge on human behaviour and responses in fires could be beneficial to simulation model developers/users, the general public and fire safety managers.</p>}},
  author       = {{Kinkel, Erica and van der Wal, C. Natalie and Ronchi, Enrico and Kuligowski, Erica D.}},
  issn         = {{0015-2684}},
  keywords     = {{Built environment; Community context; Evacuation; Fires; Human behaviour; Scoping review}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Fire Technology}},
  title        = {{Gaps in Human Behaviour in Fires Research : A Scoping Review}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10694-025-01781-3}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10694-025-01781-3}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}