Investigation of fire risks and safety strategies in large indoor snow parks

Rapid growth of the ice and snow industry has led to a significant increase in the number of indoor snow parks worldwide. However, the characteristics of large-volume spaces and low-temperature environments present unique fire protection challenges. Specifically, an in-depth investigation into the fire safety issues of indoor snow parks is essential. This study examined fire compartmentation, fire loads, evacuation, and smoke exhaust strategies in an indoor snow park in China, with a building area of 163,000 m 2 and a height of 90.3 m. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first coupled fire-evacuation simulation study conducted on indoor snow parks of this scale and complexity. Potential fire hazards and corresponding fire prevention strategies were proposed, and coupled fire dynamics and evacuation simulations were conducted to quantitatively assess fire risks. The results indicated that, by controlling fire loads, the natural smoke exhaust strategy could meet fire safety goals. During the 1800-s simulation, pronounced smoke stratification occurred. The visibility at the minimum clear layer height exceeded 30 m, and the average upper smoke temperature remained approximately 2 °C. These findings may serve as valuable references for fire-safe design and fire-protection strategies in indoor snow parks.