Bulletin of Japan Association for Fire Science and Engineering

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Since the death toll from the residential fires in 2005 rose significantly over the previous year to reach 1220, the fire-fighting organizations are expected to conduct further measures to reverse the trend.
This paper examines fatality rates by demographic characteristics(i. e. age, gender and household) to statistically verify the sudden jump in number of deaths and classified the fatalities to propose an effective remedy to the problem.
The study found;
• The death toll in 2005 was within the limits of the estimated margin of error based on the fatality rate in 1990.
• Fatality demographics are changing.
• Fatalities are classified into following three categories; families, middle-aged males, and the elderly.
• The death toll and death rate among middle-aged males are climbing.
A greater focus should be placed on middle-aged men who until now have not been a primary target of public education initiatives aimed at preventing residential fires.

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Dimensional analysis is a useful tool to identify important parameters, to design an efficient experiment, and to understand experimental results. In particular, the use of dimensional analysis simplifies the system under consideration. Since fire phenomena are complicated having a number of parameters, simplification through dimensional analysis is important for understanding their basic mechanisms. This paper briefly summarizes the basic ideas of dimensional analysis and reviews insights obtained via dimensional analyses in the field of fire research.

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