Amsterdam Fire Department, Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica, TU Delft research over mathematical model to optimally (re)position firefighters

Delft, Netherlands, 10-May-2016 — /EuropaWire/ — How can firefighters be optimally deployed in a region? If multiple stations are busy fighting a major fire, where should vehicles of other fire stations go to for optimal coverage? To answer these – and many other – questions the Fire Department Amsterdam-Amstelland joint forces with the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in Amsterdam and TU Delft.

The result of the research is a mathematical model that enables firefighters to optimally (re)position. To be able to do so, the correct data are needed, such as areas where the fire risk is higher, the place of an incident and the number of vehicles that are deployed. The researchers then made an optimization model that can calculate how the optimal coverage can be achieved. Based on the results the fire department makes a decision to reposition and how.

The research builds on the REPRO project, a research project of CWI and TU Delft, which focuses on developing smart forecasting and planning methods for ambulance services.

The model for repositioning during large-scale incidents will deployed at the Fire Department Amsterdam-Amstelland starting this summer.

An elaborate article about this research Boosting the Responsiveness of Firefighter Services with Mathematical Programming was recently published in the journal ERCIM News.

TU Delft
+31 (0)15 27 89111
info@tudelft.nl

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Amsterdam Fire Department, Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica, TU Delft research over mathematical model to optimally (re)position firefighters