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• Research on the fire space design of historical streets from different perspectives. • A new method of road accessibility evaluation based on sDNA was proposed. • A quantitative and universal method was developed that can applied to a broad range. Historical streets are greatly threatened by fires. However, current studies are qualitative and case specific, which makes their results impractical to apply in engineering. In this paper, a more quantitative and universal approach that focuses on the spatial forms of historical streets and fire protection design in historic districts is proposed. Notably, a holistic solution for renovation is proposed. The accessibility of the surrounding sections of an old town in China is assessed based on spatial design network analysis (sDNA), and the fire risk of buildings is determined with point of interest (POI) data. Areas with poor accessibility and high fire risk are identified. The areas recommended for demolition are selected by comparing the protection plans for areas with recent satellite maps. A plan that includes key fire protection areas, road network designs and micro fire stations is derived. Multisource data are used to examine possibilities for the spatial design of fire protection along historical streets from a spatial perspective. Then, this approach is validated to verify its feasibility. The validation results indicate that the sum, mean and standard deviation values of the closeness and betweenness of the renovated roads are significantly improved. The solution proposed in this paper enhances the fire safety level of historical streets, which is of great significance for the safety and protection of old town areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Objective: This study analyses the epidemiological characteristics of bus fires in mainland China over the past 10 years to develop prevention strategies and emergency procedures for such incidence and the resulting casualties., Methods: We collected reports on bus fires from the media and news websites and looked up on Medline, PubMed, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure databases for relevant publications in English or Chinese from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2015., Results: In the past 10 years, there were 382 bus fires in mainland China. The frequency of fires was markedly higher in 2013 and 2014. The vast majority (89.1%) of the fires were caused by spontaneous combustion, followed by arson (5.0%). There were reports of casualties in 41 (10.7%) of the bus fires, including 144 deaths and 567 injuries. The fires leading to casualties resulted from spontaneous combustion in 22 (53.7%) incidents, arson in 12 (29.3%) incidents, and traffic accidents in 7 (17.1%) incidents. Arson caused the most casualties, including 91 deaths and 323 injuries., Conclusions: This epidemiological study presents characteristic findings related to bus fires in China mainland. The general trend of bus fires showed a gradual increase but with a fluctuation in several years. The regional distribution of bus fires revealed some specific characteristics, and most of bus fires happened in those regions locating in the eastern area of China mainland. The largest number of bus fires were caused by spontaneous combustion. Bus fires caused by arson accounting for only 5% of the total bus fires resulted in the most severe casualties. Most of bus arson occurred in the morning and evening rush hours., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.)