A Fire Scene Reconstruction System Integrating Fire Dynamics and Structural Analysis Models Yen-Jung Chen(a) , Chih-Yuan Huang(b), Wen-Shuo Liang(c), Jun-Yi Wu(d), Wei-Hsuan Lin(d)
(a)Master^s Student, Department of Civil Engineering, National Central University
(b)Associate Professor, Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research, National Central University
(c)Research Assistant, Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research, National Central University
(d)Satellite Survey Center, Department of Land Administration, Ministry of the Interior, Taiwan
Abstract
On January 20, 2015, a catastrophic fire occurred at a bowling alley in Xinwu District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan, resulting in the tragic deaths of six firefighters. This incident remains one of the most severe firefighter casualty events in recent Taiwanese history. The building^s complex interior layout, and limited access to structural and fire-related information significantly hindered real-time decision-making during the response. The lack of structural safety assessment prior to firefighter entry ultimately contributed to fatalities caused by structural collapse. This study aims to reconstruct the fire scene of this incident by developing an integrated framework that couples fire dynamics simulation with structural analysis in a bidirectional manner. The proposed method aims at reproducing the fire development and structural degradation processes, identify high-risk zones within the building and support post-event analysis.
The proposed system integrates two computational tools: Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) and ABAQUS. By setting up fire source locations, material properties, ventilation openings, and boundary conditions, FDS is used to simulate the fire-induced thermal changes and smoke spread. The temperature time series data generated by FDS are then translated into thermal loads for the structural model in ABAQUS to simulate structure degradation, deformation, and potential failure zones under elevated temperatures. The structural response results, including collapse patterns, is subsequently fed back into the fire model to update boundary conditions and rerun the fire simulation. Through iteratively coupling fire and structural simulations, the proposed system can capture the evolving interaction between fire development and structural behavior more accurately. This enhances the reliability of fire scene reconstructions and provides a scientific basis for risk assessment, training, and safety planning in future fire incidents.
Keywords: Fire simulation, structural analysis, fire scene reconstruction, FDS, ABAQUS
