September 25, 2014
      
                  
        
  Author(s)
  Erica D. Kuligowski,   Richard  Peacock,   Paul A.  Reneke,   Emily A. Wiess,   Jason D.  Averill,   Robert  Hagwood,   Enrico  Ronchi,   Bryan  Hoskins,   Michael   Spearpoint
 
       
            
    
    
        The time that it takes an occupant population to reach safety when descending a stairwell during building evacuations is typically described by measureable engineering variables such as stairwell geometry, speed, density, and pre-evacuation delay. In turn