Abstract
This paper describes the development and application of a fire station placement model. The model is formulated as a mathematical programming model which locates p sites out of m candidate sites such that some function of the travel times of the first and second arriving fire units is maximized subject to several constraints. Among these constraints are limitations in the maximum allowable travel time to points in a region, requirements that certain sites be included or excluded, and a specification that a given number of existing sites be included.
The model uses as an objective function a utility function based on the subjective preferences of fire department officials to travel times of the first and second arriving fire units. A modification of the Teitz and Bart “node substitution” heuristic is used to find the solution to the model.
The model is applied to fire station locational decisions in Albany, NY. The model was run a number of times to provide insights into how some strategic decisions might be made.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Nilsson, E., J. Swartz and M. Westfall,Application of Systems Analysis to the Operation of a Fire Department, NBS Technical Note 782, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1974.
Toregas, C., R. Swain, C. ReVelle and L. Bergman, “The Location of Emergency Service Facilities,”Operations Research, 19, 1971, pp. 1363–1373.
Hendrick, T. E., D. R. Plane, C. Tomasides, D. Monarchi, and F. W. Heiss,Denver Fire Services Project Report, Denver Urban Observatory, Denver, CO, 1974.
Schilling, D. A., C. ReVelle, J. Cohon, and D. J. Elzinga, “Some Models for Fire Protection Locational Decisions,”European Journal of Operational Research, 5, 1980, pp. 1–7.
Hogg, J. M., “The Siting of Fire Stations,”Operational Research Quarterly, 19, 1971, pp. 627–636.
ReVelle, C. S. and R. W. Swain, “Central Facilities Location,”Geographical Analysis, 2, 1970, pp. 30–42.
Rider, K. L.,A Parametric Model for the Allocation of Fire Companies, R-1615, New York City-Rand Institute, New York, 1975.
Dormont, P., J. Hausner and W. Walker,Firehouse Site Evaluation Model: Description and User's Manual, R-1618/2, New York City Rand Institute, New York, 1975.
Public Technology Inc.,Fire Station Location Package, Chief Executive's Report, Washington, DC, 1974.
Larson, R. C., “A Hypercube Queueing Model for Facility Location and Redistricting in Urban Emergency Services,”Computers and Operations Research, 1, 1974, pp. 67–95.
Larson, R. C., “Approximating the Performance of Urban Emergency Service Systems,”Operations Research, 23, 1975, pp. 845–868.
Carter, G. M., E. J. Ignall and W. E. Walker,A Simulation Model of the New York City Fire Department: Its Use in Deployment Analysis, P-5110-1, The New York City-Rand Institute, New York, 1975.
Walker, W., J. Chaiken and E. Ignall,Fire Department Deployment Analysis, North Holland, New York, 1979.
Hogg, J. M.,A Model of Fire Spread, Home Office Scientific Advisory Board, Great Britain, 1971.
Corman, H., E. J. Ignall, K. L. Rider and A. Stevenson, “Fire Casualties and Their Relation to Fire Company Response Distance and Demographic Factors,”Fire Technology, 12, 1976, pp. 193–203.
Ignall, E., K. L. Rider and R. Urbach,Fire Severity and Response Distance: Initial Findings, R-2013, New York City-Rand Institute, New York, 1978.
Halpern, J., G. Isherwood, and Y. Wand, “Response Time and Fire Property Losses in Single- and Double-Family Dwelling Units,”INFOR, 17, 1979, pp. 373–379.
Keeney, R. L. and H. Raiffa,Decisions with Multiple Objectives: Preference and Value Tradeoffs, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1976.
Kenney, R. L., “A Utility Function for the Response Times of Engines and Ladders to Fires,”Journal of Urban Analysis, 1, 1973, pp. 209–222.
Mirchandani, P. and J. Reilly, “Spatial Distribution Design for Fire Fighting Units,”Spatial Analysis and Location-Allocation Models, edited by A. Ghosh and G. Rushton, to appear.
Mirchandani, P. and J. Reilly, (1984b) “Spatial Nodes in Discrete Location Problems,”Proceeding of the International Symposium on Locational Decisions-III, June, 1984.
Larson, R. C. and A. R. Odoni,Urban Operations Research, Prentice-Hall, NJ, 1981.
Teitz, M. B. and P. Bart, “Heuristic Methods for Estimating the Generalized Vertex Median of a Weighted Graph,”Operations Research, 16, 1968, pp. 955–961.
Jarvinen, P., J. Rajala, and H. Sinervo, “A Branch and Bound Algorithm for Seeking the p-Median,”Operations Research, 20, 1972, pp. 173–178.
Narula, S., U. Ogbu, and H. Samuelsson, “An Algorithm for the p-Median Problem,”Operations Research, 25, 1977, pp. 709–713.
Kolesar, P.,A Model for Predicting Average Fire Company Travel Times, R-1624, New York City-Rand Institute, New York, 1975.
Walker, Warren, E.,The Deployment of Emergency Services: A Guide to Selected Methods and Models, R-1867, New York City-Rand Institute, NY 1975.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Reference: Jack M. Reilly and Pitu B. Mirchandani, “Development and Application of a Fire Station Placement Model,”Fire Technology, Vol. 21, No. 3, August 1985, p. 181.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Reilly, J.M., Mirchandani, P.B. Development and application of a fire station placement model. Fire Technol 21, 181–198 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01039973
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01039973