The NBS-OSHA Emergency Escape Requirements Project is directed at identifying the data base, assessing the capabilities of selected elements, and providing the technical basis of hazard assessment as each relates to emergency escape from the workplace. The HEW-NBS Life/Fire Safety Program involves a series of interrelated projects in the areas of decision analysis, fire and smoke detection, smoke movement and control, automatic extinguishment, and the behavior of institutionalized populations in fire situations. This project, an important part of the overall Emergency Escape Requirements Project, was conducted within the Architectural Research Section of the Center for Building Technology, IAT, National Bureau of Standards.

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This report is the final product of a specific effort to develop and analyze a computer simulation of human egress behavior during fires. This project was one component of a research program undertaken jointly by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and the Center for Fire Research of the National Bureau of Standards. In addition to the behavior of institutionalized populations during fire situations, this program considered the problems of design analysis, fire and smoke detection, smoke movement and control, and automatic extinguishment.

The author also thanks Drs. Gary Winkel and Susan Saegert of the City University of New York, and Dr. Dane Harwood of the National Bureau of Standards, for their assistance in matters concerning psychological and behavioral theory. The extremely capable technical assistance of Mr. Lawrence Kaetzl in matters involving the use of the Center for Building Technology's INTERDATA 7/32 minicomputer is greatfully acknowledged. Finally, Drs. Edward Arens and Robert Glass, and Mr. James Harris, all of the Center for Building Technology, are acknowledged for their critical reviews of drafts of this report.

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