A Fire Evacuation Model Considering Field of View for Spatial Layout Improvement in Laboratory Buildings

Fire safety in university laboratories has become an increasingly important issue due to the high evacuation risk associated with complex indoor layouts, dense occupancy, and hazardous environments. To improve evacuation efficiency and support safer laboratory space design, this study investigates fire emergency evacuation in a university logistics laboratory through a field-of-view-based modeling approach. First, key evacuation data were collected from organized student evacuation drills under normal and limited field-of-view conditions. Then, by integrating the measured data with the spatial characteristics of the laboratory, a fire evacuation model considering occupants’ field of view was developed and validated. Based on the validated model, simulation experiments were conducted to examine the effects of field of view, exit number, exit width, and indoor spatial layout on evacuation performance. The results show that, without affecting the normal use of the laboratory, improving its internal spatial layout can increase evacuation efficiency by approximately 24.7%. The findings provide practical guidance for fire evacuation planning and spatial layout improvement in university laboratory buildings.