ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The VIRTUALFIRES (Virtual fire emergency) simulator will be presented, that allows to train fire fighters in the efficient mitigation of fires in a tunnel and in rescue operations, using a computer generated virtual environment. This is a cheap and environmentally friendly alternative to real fire fighting exercises that are currently carried out and that involve burning fuel in a disused tunnel. The simulator can also be used to test the fire safety of a tunnel and the influence of mitigating measures (ventilation, fire suppression etc.) on it's fire safety level. The simulator is developed with financial support from the European community under the 1ST (Information society technology) programme and combines the simulation of fires using advanced CFD software and the visualisation of smoke, toxicity levels and temperature. Two versions are being developed: One using a head mounted display and a laptop computer, the other using a CAVE virtual environment together with a supercomputer.
