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PurposeIn recent years, the number of high-rise buildings in Malaysia has been increasing. Therefore, it is essential to take evacuation into consideration especially for emergency conditions such as fire, explosion and natural disasters. This research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the escape time in typical Malaysian high-rise residential buildings.Design/methodology/approachThis work comprises simulation on three buildings around the Selangor area in Malaysia. Quantitative methodology is adopted using Pathfinder software to simulate the evacuation process and time of the three typical Malaysian high-rise residential buildings. Four parameters were studied namely, the occupant load density, walking speed of first and last occupants, average of evacuation time per floor for the three buildings and effect of placement of emergency staircase on travel time.FindingsFindings show that 12 m2 which is double the allowable occupants' density in Malaysia increases evacuation time by 67.9% while the placement of the emergency staircase on the left and middle section of a building significantly affects the evacuation time by 21.2%. In conclusion, from the simulation studies, it is recognized that a higher occupant's density affects the evacuation time.Originality/valueThis work could provide information on escape time for future construction of high-rise buildings in Malaysia. Hence, the specification and design of buildings could be reviewed based on the results obtained from this simulation. This information could be beneficial to the building regulators and developers thus enhancing the knowledge of building constructor and possible issues in the design of staircases, corridors and height of buildings.

With the rapid growth of the worldwide photovoltaic (PV) installation, the number of fire incidents involving PV systems also shows an increasing trend. Several studies revealed that installing PV systems on the rooftop has introduced an additional fire risk to the building. Therefore, risk assessment is required to identify the possible cause of fire initiation involving PV systems and subsequently provide the solar industry with fire risk information regarding PV faults. A BowTie analysis of rooftop grid‐connected PV systems was conducted, where initiation of ignition was determined as the hazard and PV fires as the loss event. Four threats in the BowTie analysis were identified using fault tree analysis, that is, arc fault, ground fault, hotspot effect at PV modules, and overheating. Arc fault contributes the most to PV fire incidents, while poor installation of PV systems was found to be the primary underlying cause of all PV fault scenarios. The main factor is due to lack of fire safety knowledge and negligence behavior of the installers. The consequences of PV fires in the BowTie diagram were investigated from the event tree analysis. Twelve possible outcomes were identified and regrouped to five consequences, that is, respiratory poisons, electrical shock, fall from heights, asset damage, and fire propagation. The evaluation of the consequences of PV fire shows that electrical shock poses a very high risk to the surrounding people, including firefighters. Additional measures are proposed to reduce the impact of electric shock.

In recent years, it is evident that there is a surge in photovoltaic (PV) systems installations on buildings. It is concerning that PV system related fire incidents have been reported throughout the years. Like any other electrical power system, PV systems pose fire and electrical hazards when at fault. As a consequence, PV fires compromised the safety of emergency responders. Therefore, the objective of this review is to evaluate the elements of firefighters' safety practices and subsequently collate the best safety practices for local fire rescue and firefighters in the event of PV fires. Out of 264 documents, only 20 publications were identified as ‘closely related’ and were systematically reviewed to evaluate firefighter safety practices from a scholarly perspective. Only 3% of the 20 publications reviewed, discussed the safety practices during PV fires. Thirteen safety practice key points were extracted from the reviewed documents, with nine critical findings highlighted as the hallmark of safety practices during PV fire for firefighters. The lack of academic journals discussing the fire safety aspects proves that there is a low interest in this field which is in dire need of further study and exploration to adhere with the PV population in ensuring a reliable emergency operation to minimize losses or injuries due to accidents.