EVALUATION OF THE NETWORK OF HYDRANTS IN THE CITY OF SÃO CARLOS-SP RELATIONSHIP TO URBAN EXPANSION, POPULATION DENSITY AND FIRE FIGHTING

Abstract

The number of fire occurrences has increased year by year in various Brazilian cities and most of these claims is destructive and cause deaths. One of the main factors responsible for the negative results related to fires is the insufficient quantity of hydrants installed in the cities, since the expansion of the urban network and the settlements of the population occurs faster than the installation of these equipments. This study evaluates the distribution of hydrants network in the city of São Carlos-SP regarding allocated fire agents and the population density. It also have been analyzed the relationship among the expansion of the urban area, population growth and the presence of hydrants, in order to estimate the growth of the potential risk areas of fires. The results shows that the city of São Carlos-SP features hydrants deficiency, the installed network covers only one third of the urban area and that only part of the urban population is served by of the equipments coverage radius.