Application of Dynamic Bow-Tie Analysis for Fire Hazard Management and Smart Evacuation in High-Rise Buildings

Abstract

High-rise buildings present critical fire safety challenges due to their vertical configuration, high occupant density, and complex evacuation dynamics. Fire events in such structures can escalate rapidly, with smoke spread and compromised egress routes significantly increasing risks to life and assets. Conventional fire risk assessment and evacuation strategies are largely static and pre-incident focused, limiting their effectiveness under evolving fire conditions. This paper applies Bow-Tie Analysis (BTA) to systematically identify fire hazards, escalation pathways, and key preventive and mitigative barriers in high-rise buildings, and introduces a novel framework termed Dynamic Bow-Tie Integration with Smart Evacuation Systems (DBT-SES). The proposed approach transforms traditional BTA into a real-time, adaptive risk management tool through integration of IoT-based sensing, AI-driven fire and smoke propagation modelling, and dynamic evacuation algorithms. A representative high-rise fire scenario is analysed to compare static evacuation planning with the DBT-SES framework. Results indicate improved evacuation efficiency, reduced congestion, lower occupant exposure to hazardous conditions, and enhanced barrier effectiveness under dynamic conditions. The study demonstrates the value of intelligent, data-driven barrier management and provides practical insights for improving fire risk management and emergency response in high-rise structures.