Rescue Operations in Underground Mass Transport Systems at Fires and Deliberate Attacks

Fire and rescue operations in mass transport systems underground often constitute a great challengefor the first responders. In rush-hour traffic at important junctions thousands of people can be locatedat a relatively small area. At underground fires or deliberate attacks in these premises the need forassistance or rescue can be extensive and the possibilities to reach those in distress are limited. In caseof deliberate attacks with explosives the risk for a second delayed attack, aimed at the first responders,has to be considered. The blast load and structural response can destroy important functions, used forevacuation, in the metro carriage and harm passengers in the exposed and adjacent carriages. This canincrease the need for assistance from the fire and rescue services. In this paper the possibilities for thefirst responders to assist and rescue persons at the event of fire or explosion in a tunnel is discussed,based on the research results from the full scale tests performed within the METRO-project.METRO-Projec