On Designing a Fire Emergency Vehicle Fleet

Yossi Luzon (), Opher Baron (), Vedat Verter () and Oded Berman ()
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Yossi Luzon: School of Industrial Engineering and Management, Afeka–The Tel Aviv Academic College of Engineering, Tel Aviv 6998812, Israel
Opher Baron: Rotman School of Management, The University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1, Canada; and School of Business Administration at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190501, Israel
Vedat Verter: Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada
Oded Berman: Rotman School of Management, The University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1, Canada

Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 2025, vol. 27, issue 6, 1995-2015

Abstract: Problem definition : The configuration of an emergency vehicle fleet (EVF) is critical to ensure that responders have the resources necessary to serve emergencies quickly and help prevent loss of life and property. Determining the fleet’s optimal design involves decisions regarding its size, the spatial distribution of the stations, and the extent of collaboration among them. We study the optimal design of a fire service fleet that is characterized by low utilization of the vehicles. The primary tradeoff is between the cost of having too many vehicles in the fleet and the cost incurred by not serving a fire in a timely manner. Methodology/results : EVFs are highly expensive systems for the public sector. We introduce a novel queueing-model approach tailored to the EVF as a light-traffic demand system. Our model incorporates the necessary performance measures, that is, the response times and the fleet capacity, for determining the optimal fleet configuration. We validate the model and demonstrate its adaptability via an application to the Toronto Fire Services. Managerial implications : Adopting our proposed model can assist managers in making informed strategic decisions regarding the effective design of the EVF. The methodology can be used to determine the most efficient strategy for investment in fire services in a large metropolitan region.

Keywords: fire services; vehicle fleet design; queueing models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormsom:v:27:y:2025:i:6:p:1995-2015

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