Tunnels of terror

Responding effectively to emergency situations such as earthquakes, forest fires, terrorist attacks and chemical spills involves a complex interaction of engineering, technology and people. The objective of the architects, builders, operators and regulators of related systems is to ensure that they provide an acceptable level of safety for their users and staff. The level of safety depends upon well-designed, reliable equipment operated in accordance with effective procedures for tasks such as data gathering, analysis, detection, response and recovery. Advances in embedded computing systems have led to the emergence of devices that integrate sensing, computation, and wireless communication. Our particular focus is on the case of road tunnel fires, although the know-how and tools may be applied more broadly across the field of emergency response.