A theoretical framework for analyzing firefighters’ situational awareness and information requirements in large chemical tank firefighting

What scenario states are of primary concern to tactical firefighters during fire rescue operations in large chemical tank farms? How can a systematic mapping be established between rescue information and these critical scenario states? To address the questions, we propose three qualitative criteria for identifying key scenario states in chemical tank firefighting based on firefighting experience. Using these criteria and a grounded theory approach, this study conducts text mining on 96 chemical tank firefighting and rescue reports from China. Anchored in the public safety triangle theoretical model and reflecting the structural characteristics of China’s current command and control organizational structures for major chemical fire emergencies, the study identifies nine key scenario states and 57 pieces of situational information that are of particular concern to tactical level firefighters. Building on the multi-scale evolution mechanisms of key scenario states in chemical tank fires and the scenario-driven information requirements theory, a theoretical framework for situational information requirements tailored to tactical command decision-making is proposed. The framework offers a valuable reference for the future deep integration, hierarchical management, and intelligent distribution of incident command information in chemical tank fire emergency response.