Geography and Human Relationships

Geography and Human Relationships

Optimal Location of Fire Stations Using a Multi-Criteria Approach Based on GIS (Case Study of Urmia City)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Urmia UniversityDepartment of Geography, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
2 Department of Geography, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
10.22034/gahr.2025.523193.2471
Abstract
One of the problems of today's cities is the lack of appropriate locations for urban activities, which has made the life of towns difficult. Fire stations, which are considered one of the activities of urban services, are no exception to this rule. Considering the rapid increase in population and irrational growth of cities, the city's security system must also be improved so that it can have sufficient coverage over the entire city. The optimal location of fire stations is very important in terms of quick and timely access of fire trucks to the scene of an accident. Timely arrival of firefighters at the scene of an accident results in less damage, but achieving this requires an optimal distribution of fire stations. The research method in the present study is descriptive-analytical; the required information is obtained through field observation, interviews, study of research conducted about the city of Urmia, and spatial data for optimal location of the fire station through the AHP model in the GIS software environment. The findings indicate that existing fire stations only cover 52.03 percent of active urban spaces during standard times, and to improve the level of equitable access for citizens and improve the spatial distribution pattern of stations based on standards and regulations, it is necessary to locate new stations. Based on the research findings, by collecting effective data in the form of information layers such as communication network, population density of areas and spaces prone to accidents and disasters, land use, etc., using GIS and a network analysis model, suitable locations for the optimal distribution of existing stations and new fire stations have been located and proposed.
Keywords

Subjects



Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 21 May 2025

  • Receive Date 12 May 2025
  • Accept Date 21 May 2025