Modelling residential fire incident response times: A spatial analytic approach

Rapid response to fire incidents is critical as delays in the departure and arrival at the scene can have significant consequences in terms of damage, injury and death. Research on the dynamics of residential fire incident response times has barely begun, a situation arguably underpinned by limited access to disaggregate command and control data. In this paper we draw on unit record data and employ quantile regression to examine the role that socio-demographic, infrastructure characteristics and temporal factors play on response times. Results reveal that response times are slower during the winter, in locales with larger numbers of children (aged 14 years and below) and low socioeconomic households, and in areas that have more complex street layouts. We conclude through emphasising the importance of these findings in their capacity to contribute to a new evidence base to inform policy decisions from a resource allocation perspective through the spatial allocation of finite fire resources.